Right now we're in the middle of the pre-Christmas rush. You too, we know! The traffic is heavier on the roads, and faster and more aggressive. The malls are packed, the couriers run off their feet.

And now the questions on every Queensberry client's mind are, will I get my order before Christmas — and why will you be closing down over the holidays???

The holiday season stress-tests many businesses, but especially companies like Queensberry, so they're good questions, and deserve an answer…

Our challenge

Before Christmas, as this little graphic shows, our orders increase by at least 250%, and often by a lot more. 

If we could simply order in more stock, or run the machines overnight, that would be fine — but everything you order from Queensberry is customised in every detail and handmade to order.

But we can't simply hire temporary staff to cope with the surge — it's highly specialised work — so our people work really long hours to get your orders out. I'm literally in awe of what they achieve.

"So will I get my order?"

If you ordered before our deadlines, absolutely — barring problems out of our control. In fact as of early December we were still accepting orders that will almost certainly be shipped. So why do we set our deadlines so early? Because if we said, "Yeah, early December will be fine," that would be the date that people worked to, and we couldn't get the orders out!

"So why do you close down over the holidays?"

There are a few reasons:

— There isn't much to do! — after the rush, orders pretty much dry up until mid January. 

— By Christmas Day our staff don't just deserve a break, they need one.

— The Christmas holiday period is our Summer, schools are closed and the kids at home. The Christmas/New Year break is a cherished New Zealand tradition.

We understand that this can be inconvenient, and for that we apologise. It's also often unexpected by our Northern Hemisphere friends, who don't get to enjoy our Summer weather or the break. Please know that we sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding.

We will have staff returning early to process your orders, so that production can swing straight into action. We do recommend placing your orders early to get to the front of the line!

Merry Christmas and happy holidays from the entire Queensberry team. We hope you get to spend quality time with family and friends, even if this year for many people it's likely to be over a Zoom call.

Ian