For an informed view on connected entertainment in the UK & Ireland, visit Cue Entertainment
When Bing
Crosby sang of a “White Christmas” in 1941, the landscape he dreamed of was
that of New England, not the images of Dickensian Britain that usually
accompany the song in the UK. Winter usually comes a lot earlier in the five
states in the northeast of the USA than it does in this country. The snow rolls
down from Canada accompanied by biting Arctic winds, yet the economy does not
collapse, roads remain open and houses remain warm.
Anyone who
has been in that part of the world at the year’s end will have seen the
efficient way that local people deal with the white invader. Residents clear
the paths outside their own homes, private four-wheel drive vehicles become
temporary snowploughs and school buses continue to run. To which the stock
response is “Well, it happens every year, so the community just gets on with
it.”
For the
second time this year, snow has disrupted distribution in the UK and Ireland.
Last January, the bad weather followed a busy Christmas season that was up 29%
on the previous year. Although business suffered from a temporary delay in
deliveries, the impact of the cold spell did not last for long and carriers
quickly made up the backlog.
This
December weather could not have come at a worse time, affecting as it does both
business-to-business and business-to-customer deliveries when volumes are
highest. There have been reports of four million parcels stuck in distribution
centres across the country; airports at a standstill; and abandoned delivery
vans littering the motorways. Scotland was affected particularly by the first
snowfall with Ireland and the North West about to be hit for the second time.
Once again, the authorities proffer excuses: “It happens so rarely.” “We
weren’t ready for it.” Or even, “The snow ploughs are in for their annual
service.”
In fact,
despite the whinging from some quarters, the distributors in the media and
entertainment sector continue to perform well in difficult circumstances. TNT
Head of Communications David Walker reports that the B2B carrier is almost back
to business as usual: “We are looking good at the moment but we never rest on
our laurels and there are big challenges ahead, with weather fronts being as
they are. We are keeping all the DVDs and CDs moving for customers such as
arvato and HMV. Our media and entertainments sector continues to grow, and it's
a great area to be in, given the way the industry is developing. At this time
of year, we understand we have to keep things moving in order for retail
outlets to have stock to sell.
He
acknowledges that movements in Scotland are particularly difficult in
“treacherous outlying areas” but he says that throughout the country, “TNT is
working 24/7 to ensure we get everything back on track as soon as possible.
Apart from a tiny remnant served by one of our Glasgow depots, everything will
be cleared by the end of Friday.”
A DHL
spokesperson says that adverse weather conditions have inevitably presented
challenges but the company has contingency plans in place to keep delays to a
minimum: “Our staff have been responding brilliantly and are certainly doing
all they can to ensure deliveries continue as usual. We are proud of our staff;
they have been going the extra mile – with some deliveries taking place outside
of normal hours and on weekends to ensure operations continue smoothly.”
Arvato UK
& Ireland Supply Chain Solutions Managing Director Markus Schmücker praises
the delivery companies used by the company: “Our freight forwarding partners
are doing a great job and everyone works together to make sure as many
consignments as possible are delivered safely. December is the busiest month of
the year for everyone involved with the retail sector and bad weather will
always add to the challenge of getting deliveries out on schedule to locations
across the UK and Ireland.”
The
company remains on target for this time of the year and Schmücker is pragmatic
about the British weather: “There isn’t much that can be done when there’s
heavy snow and ice, other than to wrap up warm.”
Technicolor
says it has a contingency plan in place for such times: “It came into operation
as soon as we realised that there might be problems with parcel shipments. We
switched from group to direct deliveries in order to ensure that our clients
are not impacted by bottlenecks elsewhere in the system,” a spokesperson said.
“By
bypassing the carriers’ own warehouses, we can get product to retailers as
expected and guarantee direct delivery to our clients. There were a very few
shipments blocked in transit and in those cases we took the decision to
re-supply the product; this time parallel shipping direct to our customers from
our own warehouse. The majority of our supply chain has worked exactly as
predicted.”
The view
at Technicolor is that the media has inflated the impact of the weather because
it is a people story potentially affecting their Christmas gifts. In the
company’s view, “Four million parcels is a small number in relation to the
total movements at this time of the year. We look at the situation on a daily
basis because some shopping days still remain but our contingency plan has
worked so far.”
Global
Freight Solutions Managing Director Neil Cotty told the Daily Mail on Friday
that it advised consumers to place their orders as soon as they can to give
themselves the best chance of having their items arriving before Christmas.
“Carriers
will be deploying maximum resources over the next week to ensure that items do
arrive in time and in certain central areas delivery times are at normal
levels,” Cotty said.
The Royal
Mail announced a £20 million additional investment to deal with what the Met
Office says is the worst December weather for 30 years. Most of the resources
go to the Midlands, North East and Scotland, including the provision of an
additional 250 large lorries and the recruitment of 500 HGV drivers.
Royal Mail
MD Mark Higson says, “We are pulling out all the stops to deliver this
Christmas. With this additional £20 millio investment, we are committed to
ensure we deliver letters and packets as quickly as possible. Our people are
doing a great job in very challenging conditions. I would like to thank them
for their tremendous efforts to ensure we continue to deliver right up until
Christmas Eve.”
Barring a
blizzard, it seems that almost everyone in the UK will get almost everything
they are expecting by the end of December 24th. As they settle down to watch
the Blu-ray, DVD and CD discs that Father Christmas left under the tree,
perhaps some of them will spare a thought for the thousands of people in the
entertainment supply chain who helped Santa to deliver them. Maybe one or two
in the community will even work off the over-indulgence of the Christmas
weekend by stepping outside to clear the snow from the path.
After all,
it happens every year now.
Merry
Christmas
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