Doing the Christmas shopping is sounding more stressful by the week
Brits are being given even more supply warnings ahead of the 2021 holiday season as experts have revealed paper shortages and shipping delays may impact the UK’s usual festive habits.
There have been a number of obstacles in the haulage industry over the past few months – everything from the petrol shortage to the threat of no turkeys or toys has been a potential December-derailer – and these latest updates are seeing Brits urged to get their Christmas shopping done early.
There are always people who leave all their Christmas shopping to the last possible minute (you know who you are) but leaving it until late December could prove even more costly this year, especially if you’re usually buying books for friends and family.
As reported in The Telegraph, companies like Waterstones have suggested that they are already having to stockpile bestsellers in anticipation of impending shortages and shipping delays, with CEO James Daunt revealing that lots of books that are usually printed in Europe or the Far East simply won’t get here in time otherwise.
On the subject of colour printing especially, production is typically outsourced and simply takes much longer than the monochrome prints that can be done here in the UK.
Daunt went on to explain that reprints could already take “a few months and with the current port congestion will take significantly longer than usual.” He added that the knock-on effect on supply chain delays means that some colour copies of texts such as cookbooks are most at risk.
As well as The Publisher’s Association already admitting paper supplies and shipping could hamper people’s Christmas shopping, the combination of rising timber prices and an unfortunate slump in demand (leading to the closure of many international paper mills) could result in even further projected delays.
So, if you’re buying for a bookworm this year, best get it in the basket now if you want to secure a copy.
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