If you’ve got smaller items to send via an Overnight service then give our Bagit service a try. From only £11 we can deliver your item to most areas of the Mainland UK for next working day delivery. If you’ve got two deliveries then they’re only £9 each. For £2 more we’ll get them there before noon next working day. If you’ve got even more items then greater discounts are available. See the link on our ‘What We Do’ page, or call us on 0845 092 0010 for more details. All prices are subject to VAT.
Call us NOW on:
0845 092 0010
Economy Document Service
From today, 1st June, we’ve launched an exciting new service for smaller items to Central London. If you’ve got items or small easily portable packages (under 5kgs) to get to Central London then why not try our ‘Economy Document Service’? The cost is only £30 + VAT and we won’t charge you the London Congestion Charge either! If the items aren’t desperately urgent then give us four hours from the time you call and we’ll get them there for you – so if you call us at 11am for example we’ll deliver by 3pm. The following London Postcodes are included in this service: W1, W2, W8, WC1, WC2, EC1, EC2, EC3, EC4, SE1, SW1, SW3, SW7, SW10, E1, N1 & NW1.
Initially we are only able to offer this service from the following start postcodes: RH1, RH2, RH3, RH4, RH6 & RH9 but if the service proves popular we hope to be able to extend it to include areas further out.
PLUS
If you’ve got more than one delivery then you can save even more! The second delivery would only be a further £20 + VAT and then each extra delivery only £15 + VAT.
Call us now on 0845 092 0010 for more details.
We are also happy to offer the service in reverse – so if you’ve got something small to be collected from Central London to come back to you we can do that as well. However we do need an extra hour for this please – so call us at 10am for example and we’ll have it back with you by 3pm.
Going Batty
We saw the announcement in the Surrey Mirror last week and thought ‘That sounds interesting’. So there we were last night, outside The Pavilion restaurant in Priory Park, Reigate at about 8.30pm. We were a little early and there were only a couple of other people there, apart from myself, Gill and her sister Ali. However by 8.45 there were about fifty of us altogether and two Priory Park rangers. The wardens handed out half a dozen bat detectors and off we went towards the trees at the top of the park. This is apparently where they roost and we were told that we should see them coming out of the trees on their way to hunt. The bat detectors were tuned to 45 megahertz which most bats can be detected at.
Anyway 9.15 came and went and still no sign of a bat. We were beginning to think this was a pointless way of spending a Thursday evening in May. We were led down to the lake and still nothing. Then, suddenly, Gill thought she saw something up above just for a split second. A few minutes later the bat detectors starting making whooshing noises and we knew we were in business. The rangers told those who had detectors to try different frequencies as each species of bat has its own particular frequency. Within a few minutes there were a huge variety of noises emanating from these machines. And then we started seeing them.
One or two at first, darting about over the lake, hoovering up all the small insects they could find. Then there were some quite large bats which were flying more slowly and actually catching insects on the water. These are called ‘Daubenton’s Bats’ or ‘Water Bats’. There were also ‘Soprano Pipistrelles’ which are only the size of your thumb and ‘Noctule Bats’ which are much larger ( they can have a wingspan of up to 45cms ). The place was alive with bats everywhere of all shapes and sizes. Some of them came quite close to us as they were darting about.
We’d been told not to use our torches as, contrary to public opinion, bats can actually see and they don’t like torchlight. It was amazing just how much light there still was coming up to 10 o’clock at night. Our eyes had grown accustomed to the twilight and the spectacle of watching these bats was truly mesmerising. Anyway we thought we’d better call it a night but we’ll definitely be back to have another look.
Why not go and see for yourselves? To find out more about bats visit The Bat Conservation Trust website.
Parking Problems
Local councils are discovering that a wonderful source of revenue is to restrict parking and loading as much as possible thereby increasing the number of parking tickets they can issue. In some places, such as Wellesley Road in Croydon, cameras are used to record vehicle information and then the ticket is sent on afterwards. You don’t even realise you’ve got a ticket until several days later which seems grossly unfair.
All of this, of course, means that we couriers are encountering more and more problems when trying to deliver. The problem is especially great in London of course and with the advent of red routes. Indeed there are some places that are pretty much impossible to deliver to without getting a ticket. The only way round this, that we can see, is to have a telephone number for the delivery point and for someone to come out and meet the driver in order to take delivery of the goods, or at least to watch the van while the driver is unloading. We understand that our clients are loathe to pay a parking ticket fine obtained while delivering their goods so we always let them know as soon as we are having problems, before the driver leaves the van unattended and risks a ticket. Where possible the driver will park legally even if it’s a little way from the delivery point, but of course this may mean that the delivery takes much longer and therefore waiting time will be incurred – however this is always much cheaper than a parking ticket.
The Perils of Lifting
In the day to day business of delivering parcels you have to be extremely careful when lifting goods onto and off the van. ‘Keep your back straight, bend your knees’ is something we’ve all been told time and time again. But there’s more to it than that. When loading things onto and off vehicles you shouldn’t twist and turn which is the easiest thing to forget. Always lift the goods with your knees bent and back straight, return to an upright position and then turn to face the vehicle before putting the goods on board. Keep the item close in to your body and not at arms’ length. Also remember what the human body is capable of and what is recommended. The government’s health and safety booklets recommend that a typical male should lift a maximum of 25kgs, but remember that you may not be a typical male (whatever one of those is!). I limit myself to 20kgs.
You’ve probably guessed why I’m telling you all this. On Sunday, working away in the garden and therefore not in work mode, I made a stupid move and the result is a prolapsed disc in my spine. I did this before several years ago, also gardening related, so I should have been more careful. I’m now paying the price both painwise and moneywise as a trip to the chiropractor is required later today, and quite probably another one or two before I’m back to full mobility again. So be warned!
Volcanic Ash
I know that many of you reading this have been affected by the volcanic ash from Iceland which is being distributed around the world. Of course this has had a major effect on International Deliveries being sent via the various global courier companies. We have been very fortunate, so far, in that only one of our shipments has been delayed.
We send shipments via various carriers and also many of our European shipments are sent via Road & Sea. If your goods aren’t urgent then this is a very economical method and also, of course, isn’t affected by volcanic ash whatsoever. Indeed if this situation is ongoing then maybe it would be advisable for many more people to use this route. There is greatly reduced uncertainty regarding arrival time and can still be fairly fast. For example France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg are usually delivered within 3 working days from date of despatch. The price for these five countries is only £21 + VAT for each parcel with a maximum weight of 31kgs. Other European destinations are available so please ask.
It’s Snow Joke
Well what a start to 2010. The snow arrived in style and has certainly caused us a few problems. However business is still continuing.
Last Friday one of our drivers in a 4×4 managed to deliver to Gloucester and then Runcorn. He went through temperatures as low as -12 degrees on his way there, and when he came off the motorway to get into Runcorn the slip road was exactly that! One solid sheet of ice which even a 4×4 couldn’t get a grip on. But he made it without incident I’m glad to say.
We’re starting to get back to some sort of normality here in the South East this week, but there are still major problems in some parts of the country which are affecting our overnight service. UK Mail are doing an excellent job considering the circumstances and we are always constantly updated about any delays. If you need to know if we can get somewhere then just give us a call.
Northern Hospitality
Northern hospitality is something I’ve heard about many times here in the South but last week I encountered it for real.
Last Tuesday I left home at 0200 in order to deliver to The Lake District at 0700. When I got to the hotel where I was delivering I asked the concierge if he knew of a good local cafe where I could get a bit of breakfast. He immediately phoned through to the kitchen and said they’d sort me out a bit of brekkie. I was directed to the kitchen where the cook was sorting out a plate of freshly cooked fried breakfast which she kept adding to as other items became ready. By the time she’d finished I’d had a full English breakfast complete with toast and coffee and she wouldn’t dream of taking any money for it.
It really did make the early start worthwhile!
© copyright 2012 Frank Brown Delivers LLP
Frank Brown Delivers LLP no 0C328313 Partners: Francis Anthony Brown, Gillian Rosemary Brown