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.
ADVERTISEMENT
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.
ADVERTISEMENT
“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
Appeal launched to find the owner of live chickens found at Creamfields festival
Daisy Jackson
The hunt is on to find the owner of a pair of chickens who were discovered at Creamfields festival.
The two birds were spotted on the grounds of the huge electronic music festival by bewildered festival-goers.
The cockerel and hen were trapped in a hedge, after it appears they wandered onto the festival campsite before the security barriers were installed.
The birds then found themselves trapped inside as around 70,000 music fans poured into Cheshire for a line-up that included Calvin Harris, Swedish House Mafia, Disclosure, and Tiësto.
The chickens have been safely rescued from the Creamfields festival site and are recovering at a wildlife centre, and now the RSPCA is on a mission to find their owner.
Festival-goers first called the RSPCA on Saturday 29 August to alert them to the cockerel and hen trapped inside the festival, one of whom assisted in the rescue mission.
RSPCA Inspector Leanne Cooper: “I was surprised that they were inside the festival site and I needed to get through the road blocks and security before reaching them on foot through muddy fields. I met the caller who helped me as they were just running up and down the hedge line where there was a wire fence blocking access.
Where the chickens were discovered at CreamfieldsThe RSPCA wants to track their owners down
“We managed to guide them out and I caught both of them with my rescue net which was a bit of a sight for the festival campers.
“I don’t think they were abandoned and they’re more likely to be stray because it’s farmland all around the festival site. They don’t have any health issues, apart from being quite underweight.
“With the fences going up a week before the festival starts they’d probably been unable to get out for some time and had been left foraging in the hedge. Someone mentioned that a third bird was also trapped, although we couldn’t find any others.
“I am really grateful to the festival-goer who found them and alerted us to their plight.”
Manchester Airport issues update for anyone flying today after hundreds of cancellations yesterday
Emily Sergeant
Manchester Airport has issued an update for anyone catching a flight today after hundreds of cancellations yesterday.
In case you hadn’t heard, hundreds of flights at several major UK airports – including Manchester Airport – were disrupted by a technical fault at air traffic control provider National Air Traffic Services (NATS) yesterday (8 September 2026), with the incident grounding planes and resulting in numerous cancellations.
According to Flightradar24, more than 1,000 flights were cancelled nationwide, and many passengers were told to expect disruption for the rest of the day.
One of the worst-affected airlines was said to be Ryanair, with around 65,000 passengers affected by the cancellations and delays.
Manchester Airport issued its first statement addressing the matter at 3:15pm yesterday, stating: “We are aware of an issue affecting NATS’ air traffic control service at UK airports, which may result in delays to some departing flights from Manchester Airport today.
“Passengers due to travel are advised to check the latest status of their flight with their airline. We will continue to monitor the situation and share further updates as more information becomes available.”
Now, although the issue has been resolved, Manchester Airport has issued further statements informing anyone travelling today what they can expect.
The airport started off by saying that it is ‘operating as normal’ today, but that passengers are advised to ‘check with their airline for the latest information’.
The Manc -
25th September 2020 
