You may have caught on the news today that Buckingham Palace have announced celebratory plans for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. What you may not have clocked is that there will be a four day Bank Holiday weekend at the start of June. A double June Bank Holiday will need planning for as you may either be giving your staff an additional day off or be paying overtime rates if they come in to work.
While the celebration is taking place in June (hopefully with amazing British Summer weather), the Queen will actually celebrate her Platinum Jubilee on Sunday the 6th of February.
As well as New Year’s Day (for which the Bank Holiday was the 3rd of January due to the 1st falling on a Saturday), the 2022 Bank Holiday schedule is:
- Friday 15th of April 2022 – Good Friday
- Monday 18th of April 2022 – Easter Monday
- Monday 2nd of May 2022 – Early May Bank Holiday
- Thursday 2nd of June 2022 – Spring Bank Holiday
- Friday 3rd of June 2022 – Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday
- Monday 29th of August 2022 – Summer Bank Holiday
- Monday 26th of December 2022 – Boxing Day
- Tuesday 27th of December 2022 – Christmas Day
You’ll notice that the traditional Spring Bank Holiday has been moved from late May to the 2nd of June, with the addition of a Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday on the 3rd, to create a four day weekend.
Typically we only get four day weekends at Easter and on some years at Christmas, so the ecommerce industry should be well prepared for the catch up which will take place when four days worth of shipments enter the system on the 6th of June. It’s likely that large retailers will still have collections over the weekend and couriers will be delivering – perhaps not on the Bank Holidays themselves but weekend deliveries on Saturdays and Sundays are now pretty routine for the carrier industry.
It will be worth checking well in advance with your carriers which days they will be collecting in the first week of June – once you’ve confirmed your pick up days, this will enable you to determine which days you need staff to be working and whether to operate on a skeleton holiday crew, or if you still have daily collections whether overtime arrangements for the double June Bank Holiday are indicated.
It might seem churlish to suggest that this is a sales opportunity, but the reality is that there will be plenty of requirements for (properly licensed!) collectibles, flags and bunting, BBQ and garden furniture and all the trimmings that go with such a celebration. With the fragility in the supply chain the world is currently seeing, make sure you get your orders in with suppliers early and have stock on hand well in advance of June as once the day has past consumer appetite for Platinum Jubilee merchandise will rapidly wane!
2022 is a time to celebrate and, regardless of whether you are a Royalist or not, most people will be welcoming the additional Bank Holiday to mark this historic occasion for the UK’s longest serving monarch.
