Delivery Information
How orders reach you, how dates are given, and why we do not publish a delivery promise.
Last reviewed
How Orders Travel
Finished goods are dispatched on national carriers to any address in the United Kingdom. We do not operate our own delivery vehicles and we have no regional depots, so every order is carried by a third party from production to your door.
Packaging ships flat wherever the format allows it. That keeps the carriage cost down, protects the printed face, and means a pallet's worth of sleeves arrives in far less space than the same quantity pre-formed.
Why There Is No Published Delivery Time
Two separate periods sit between an order and a delivery, and only one of them is about transport.
- Production — set by the print method, the run length, whether a die is needed and how busy the press is that month. This is the larger of the two and it varies considerably.
- Transit — the carrier's own service, which is broadly consistent for mainland addresses and longer for some postcodes.
Because production dominates, a single site-wide figure would be misleading. Your production lead time is confirmed in writing on your quotation, against your actual specification, and the carrier's transit is added to it.
Dates Are Estimates, Not Guarantees
Any delivery date we give is the carrier's estimate. We do not offer timed, next-day or same-day delivery anywhere in the UK, and we would rather say so plainly than imply a service we cannot control.
If a date genuinely matters — an event, a seasonal launch, a shop opening — tell us at enquiry stage rather than at order stage. We schedule production backwards from a fixed date, and the artwork deadline that follows from it is usually earlier than people expect.
Postcodes That Take Longer
Transit to English, Welsh and lowland Scottish mainland addresses is broadly the same. These take longer, and some carriers apply a surcharge:
- Scottish Highlands and Islands.
- Northern Ireland.
- Isle of Man, Isle of Wight, Channel Islands and the Scilly Isles.
We confirm what applies to your specific postcode when we quote, rather than leaving it to appear later as an unexpected cost.
Delivery Access
Tell us at order stage if your address has anything a carrier needs to know about: restricted access, a booking-in requirement, a delivery window, no forklift, or a city-centre location with vehicle restrictions. We can pass instructions on, though we cannot commit the carrier to a specific time.
Checking Your Delivery
Please check goods on arrival rather than after storing them. Shortages and transit damage need reporting promptly so that a claim with the carrier is still possible.
If what arrives does not match the approved proof or the agreed specification, see ourreturns and refunds page.
Split Deliveries
Splitting an order across two or more deliveries is often possible, and it suits seasonal businesses that would otherwise pay to store stock through a quiet period. It costs a little more per unit than a single delivery. Ask us to price both ways.
Questions About a Delivery
Call +44 7458 651107 or emailinfo@conesleeves.co.uk with your order reference and we will chase the carrier on your behalf.
Questions We Are Asked
How are goods delivered?
By national carrier to the address you give at order stage. Smaller quantities travel as parcels and larger ones on pallets, which is worth knowing in advance because a pallet needs somewhere to be unloaded.
Are delivery times published on this site?
No, because transit and production timings have not been confirmed for publication and inventing them would be a promise the business has not made. Both are stated on the quotation for your job.
Can we have goods delivered to a home address?
Yes, provided somebody can receive them during the working day. It is common among traders without commercial premises, though a full pallet needs access and space that a doorstep may not have.
Can one order be split across several sites?
Yes, and for a chain it is usually the sensible way to do it. Give us the split at order stage and the boxes can be labelled per site so nobody has to redistribute them on arrival.
What happens if goods arrive damaged?
Tell us straight away and photograph the outer packaging as well as the goods, because a carrier claim depends on both. Do not dispose of anything until we have agreed what happens next.
Is the delivered quantity always exact?
It is quoted with a tolerance, which is standard for printed packaging: a press run does not stop on a precise number. The tolerance that applies to your job is stated on the quotation.
Do you deliver to the Highlands and islands?
Yes, though carriage there is quoted separately from mainland rates and transit takes longer. Say so at enquiry stage so the figure in your quotation is the one you will actually pay.
Can delivery be booked for a specific day?
A timed or booked-in delivery can usually be arranged where the receiving site needs one, and it is worth asking if you have restricted access hours. It is agreed before dispatch rather than afterwards.
How should packaging be stored on arrival?
Dry, off the floor and away from anything strongly scented. Board takes up moisture and odour readily, and packaging stored badly can taint the food it was bought to hold.
What if nobody is there when it arrives?
A parcel may be left with a neighbour or taken to a depot, but a pallet will be returned and redelivery charged. Give a delivery address where somebody is reliably present during the day.