For some, Christmas is anything but relaxing

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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Festive music on repeat, a huge mountain of work and an endless stream of customers – for some businesses, Christmas is a frantic time of year. Hannah Gray speaks to some of those working through the Christmas rush.
IF you find sorting out Christmas cards for relatives up and down the country a bit of a challenge, pity the workers at Peterborough Mail Centre.

The centre sorts all mail posted in the PE postcodes and then sends it on to mail centres in other areas of the country, and also receives incoming mail for local residents.

The festive mailbag for all PE postcodes over the four-week Christmas period is expected to be about 42.4 million items, compared to 30.6 million items in a normal four-week period.

John Sambells, who is the late shift manager, in charge of staff who work from 2pm until 10pm, said that the Christmas rush starts virtually as soon as December begins.

"You can tell on November 30, it's a normal day and then the calendars change and it starts to pick up," he said.

"We know that from then on it's going to be a bit hectic, but I think it's enjoyable as well."

This change of month means workers know they're in for a busy time.

"Once you join Royal Mail, you know that from December 1 to December 24, it's exceptionally busy," John said. "There's no holiday, no annual leave. People are planning to have their work dos but I can't let people have time off. Our mail volumes at Christmas double or treble."

Despite the volume of work, John insists that staff do get into the festive spirit.

Christmas parties are held at weekends, to avoid workers needing time off, and they also enjoy a Christmas dinner at the staff restaurant.

"It does get festive, people do tend to be jovial but we just can't do it because we've still got a job to do. People can't go out and have a drink because they're expected to work harder than probably the rest of the year," he said.

December 15 is the busiest day in Royal Mail's calendar, when across the country, the company estimates it will deal with 125 million items.

During the festive period , the mail centre takes on extra workers and John said all staff work well together to cope with the rush.

"There is a team spirit. We have up to 200 seasonal staff who are made to feel welcome by the regular staff and they have people who look after them. We try to involve them as well."

One member of staff who is kept particularly busy is Ruth Tilley, who sorts out mail which is damaged or incorrectly addressed, and runs the risk of not getting to its rightful owner.

Ruth said she calls her section of the building "heartbreak corner".

She currently has boxes full of Christmas cards which have stamps and names on but no addresses, as well as a range of other items including passports, driving licenses, money, photographs and toys.

When The ET visited, there were two rather lovely but homeless cuddly toys, which weren't sufficiently wrapped and had lost both their packaging and their labels.

Sometimes Ruth can track people down, if there is a partial address, but often there is not much she can do.

[POSTMAN]

John Sambells, who is the late shift manager, in charge of staff who work from 2pm until 10pm, said that the Christmas rush starts virtually as soon as December begins.

Is Mr Sambells the only RM manager to think this then?Cause the top boys bloody don't!

[baldrick]

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John said. "There's no holiday, no annual leave. People are planning to have their work dos but I can't let people have time off. Our mail volumes at Christmas double or treble."

He should know that there is an agreement which allows 5% of staff in each work area to take leave during the
Xmas pressure period.