A last-minute Bank Holiday change to take place during May next year will cost a leading calendar maker up to £200,000 it has been revealed.
The calendar maker Allan & Bertram will be one of several calendar companies who will be affected by the last-minute decision to alter the date of a bank holiday in May next year.
Discussions within government circles earlier this month covered the possibility of changing the bank holiday set for Monday 4th of May 2020 to take place on Friday 8th of May 2020 instead to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day.
As a result of the decision receiving the green light, Allan & Bertram have revealed that 400,000 of its calendars that have already been printed will need to have pages containing the month of May replaced to reflect the move.
The adjustment could cost up to £200,000 to have replacement pages printed and inserted into the affected calendars, as quoted by the company during recent media interviews.
It is only the second time in history that the bank holiday at the beginning of May has been moved.
The first time the date was adjusted was in 1995 to mark the 50th anniversary of VE Day.
Bank Holiday Change Has Caused ‘Most Stressful Week Faced in Business’
The Managing Director of Hertfordshire based Calendar maker Allan & Bertram, Andrew Bennett, explains how the Bank Holiday change has caused the company one of the “single most stressful weeks” in their history and has hindered their productivity, adding:
“We’re totally in agreement with changing the date.
Just not changing it with 11 months’ notice, when you’ve had 74 years to prepared for this event.
There was no reason why this decision couldn’t have been made 18 months ago.”
Bennett goes on to comment on how the Bank Holiday change error could go on to affect the standards set by the company, citing:
“Our clients expect the product to be right.
The easy thing to do would have been to do nothing, or put a sticker on it, but if you want to focus on quality, you have to correct the problem.
As a business, we will survive.
But it’s not just the money – it’s the pressure on production that will now make this year incredibly hard.”
BPIF Disappointed Over Lack of Consultation by Government
The British Printing Industry Federation, an organization which represents and aims to protect the interests of nearly 1,300 printing businesses in the UK, agree with Bennett and Allan & Bertram on more consultation being needed on the Bank Holiday change.
Whilst they say that they support the notion to recognise the 75th anniversary of VE Day on this date, the BPIF spoke of how many printing companies are now likely to be affected by the decision.
“A number of members will lose money due to calendars and diaries for 2020 being printed already.
It is my understanding that there is no opportunity for compensation.
This could cause serious cash flow issues, and therefore other issues for those businesses affected.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy expressed that the government had “considered the practical implications of moving this bank holiday”.
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