Posties across the UK worked around the clock yesterday to ensure this year’s Christmas parcels were signed, sealed and delivered without a glitch on their busiest day of the year.
During the Christmas surge, around 123,000 Royal Mail staff and 19,000 temporary staff work busily into the night sorting through cards, packages and Christmas presents before the last recommended posting date of December 21.
Depots across Scotland have been no exception with extra sorting centres opening to deal with the festive rush.
In Inverness, an additional 100 members of staff have been taken on to cope with the influx of mail and further south in Edinburgh they experienced a similarly busy day dealing with up to three hours of delays since the Forth Road Bridge closure.
At the Altens Mail Centre in Aberdeen, workers were also working non-stop yesterday to ensure all the Christmas mail addressed to the northe-ast and Shetland arrives in time for the big day.
Plant manager John Wallace said: “For Royal Mail this is obviously the most important time of year for us and Christmas is when we get to our busiest.
“December 16 is our busiest day of the year; we direct approximately 1.3million parcels and letters through the plant.
“To give an idea of how we have had to step things up, on Monday we had about 800,000 items and in two days it has almost doubled.”
He said they had taken on an additional 90 members to cope with demand.
Martin Donald, Aberdeen mail centre basement manager, added: “It’s probably the most exciting time of the year and definitely the most fulfilling time of year for us.”
Aberdeen mail centre Christmas temp, Shaun O’Riordan said: “It’s been a great experience but very hectic, though I would definitely recommend being a Christmas temp, it’s a great time of year and everyone has been working together well to get the job done.”