Christmas shoppers asked to start browsing now – with online retail facing huge demand in December
Christmas shoppers are being encouraged to begin browsing for presents as early as September this year - with retailers warning that demand could be higher this year than ever before.
Christmas shoppers are being encouraged to begin browsing for presents early this year – with retailers warning that December demand could be higher than ever before.
This summer saw the closure of hundreds of brick-and-mortar stores in the UK as the country entered lockdown; with shoppers turning to websites and e-commerce to place orders.
With tighter restrictions being introduced ahead of the winter and a renewed emphasis on staying indoors, retailers are anticipating an unprecedented flood of web traffic during December – with delivery services being stretched to full capacity to meet demand.
Online retail is now preparing for a festive season – with customers advised to start looking for gifts soon and spread their shopping out across the winter to avoid missing out or suffering delays.
The BBC reports that the industry body for online retailers, IMRG, is expecting “really very excessive” volumes this year.
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Christmas shoppers are being told that panic-buying is unnecessary, but purchasing bit-by-bit could prove enormously beneficial rather than attempting to grab gifts in one go.
“Whilst that in itself is not a problem, getting too much of it too close to Christmas is going to be a bit of a problem,” said IMRG representative Andy Mulcahy.
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“If you can spread out your shopping and do quite a lot of it in November, maybe even a bit of it now, then that would really help.”
Many major firms will also be launching recruitment drives ahead of Christmas to cater for higher demand – which may help to give the economy a much-needed boost during what is being labelled a “challenging” winter period.
Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s have confirmed that they’re already seeing a spike in Christmas food searches on their websites.
Higher demand may also come in for Christmas Cards in 2020 – with fewer people expected to make journeys outside their homes and send festive wishes via post instead (Health Secretary Matt Hancock is refusing to rule out students having to stay in halls over Christmas, for example).
Some retail experts say there may also be more emphasis on decorations rather than food this year; as Brits dine around tighter tables in smaller numbers.
News
NASA reveals exact time you can see ‘Santa’s sleigh’ fly over Greater Manchester
Thomas Melia
Not long left till Santa and his reindeer crew fly over the skies of Manchester to drop off some of the most amazing presents of the year.
Manchester must have been extra nice this year, as Santa is treating us to lots of chances to catch a glimpse of him on his mission to deliver millions of gifts in time for Christmas.
Just like every year, Santa is dusting off his sleigh and polishing his boots to prepare for his biggest night visiting lots of kids and families. The sleigh is being filled with lots of goodies and surprises as we speak, it’s almost like he can smell the cookies and milk from here.
NASA, one of the world’s leading space companies, has been working meticulously to find out Santa’s route for 2024.
The world-renowned space agency has given us an exact time to look up at the stars to spot the main man himself and catch the glimmer of lights from his sleigh.
NASA has reveals the exact time you can see ‘Santa’s sleigh’ flying over Greater Manchester this Christmas / Credit: Tim Mossholder (via Unsplash)
As a man who has lots of experience globe trotting, it’s safe to say the big man knows how to efficiently cover as many houses as possible all in one night.
Santa’s sleigh will be present at the same time as the International Space Station (ISS), however anyone looking to see this festive vehicle can notice the lights won’t change direction and will not flash.
This time round, Santa is swooshing round Greater Manchester on Christmas Day a whole hour earlier than last year, meaning that nice list must be the longest it’s ever been.
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Tuesday 24 December
5:21am
Santa’s sleigh lights will be visible for two minutes travelling South East to East, as the man of Christmas weighs up his North West delivery route.
6:54am
Theres a six minute opportunity to catch those bright lights of Santa’s sleigh in the Manchester sky as he travels from West to South East, finalising his map before the big night ahead.
Wednesday 25 December
4:35am
It will be visible for less than a minute, no movement, in a static position. Santa will be doing a headcount of all the houses to make sure he’s not missed a single chimney.
6:08am
The sleigh will be seen for four minutes, moving from South West to South East, by now Santa will have finished his Manchester delivery drop and will be heading on over the hill to our friends in Leeds.
University of Bolton announces ‘historic’ name change despite opposition
Emily Sergeant
The University of Bolton has officially changed its name.
That’s right… after more than a year of deliberation, including opposition from other higher education institutions across the region, claiming it would be a cause of confusion for prospective students, Bolton‘s university has now successfully become the University of Greater Manchester in what has been described as a “historic” move.
The institution was given the go-ahead by the regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), to adopt the new name with immediate effect after submitting the change 17 months ago.
Current and past Students’ Union Presidents of the university, alongside its governors, unanimously supported the name change.
The name change was approved after an independent economic impact assessment report – which was commissioned by the university earlier this year – revealed that the benefit to the local economy would be millions of pounds per year.
With the name change coming ahead of the university’s 200th anniversary next year, this means that, as of 2025, all graduating students will receive degree certificates from the University of Greater Manchester instead.
On top of this, any former graduate dating back to when the institution achieved university status in 2005 can be issued with a replacement certificate featuring the new name, if they request one.
Announcing the name change last week, Professor George E Holmes, who is the President and Vice Chancellor called it a “historic moment” for the university.
“Bolton is an amazing town and it is our base, and it is our home where we intend to stay, it is the home of the University of Greater Manchester, now in Bolton.
“This is an institution that students and staff can be remarkably proud of. The name change is very good news for our students, very good news for the institution, very good news for the town and amazing news for jobs.”
The Manc -
25th September 2020 
