We're open to Sunday deliveries for any charity who can provide the required volume of jobs on a Sunday. We've run trials with existing clients and there has been very low demand for Sundays, plus there is the challenge of reduced charity shop opening hours on Sundays. I'll explain more below.
Demand
Weekend availability is essential, and all our teams work Saturdays. Many of your customers work, and so a Saturday delivery is much better for them than taking a day of holiday. We've also observed that the failure rate of jobs on a Saturday is lower - probably because more people are at home.
But Saturdays are generally not any busier than a weekday, and often quieter. This tells us that we've got sufficient weekend availability. Most stock is booked for next day collection or delivery, regardless of the day of the week. If Saturdays are fully booked then we'd open up Sundays immediately - after all, we're paid for the jobs we actually do, and so its in both our interests to deliver and collect as much saleable used furniture as possible.
Sunday realities
There are also two practical issues that make Sunday operations difficult. First, most charity furniture shops operate for only six hours and so we have a reduced window in which to make our furniture collections and deliveries. This means a shorter shift for drivers, and if they're giving up a Sunday then they want to put in a good number of hours.
The second issue we've faced is that shops have less staff on a Sunday which means they can struggle to prepare stock for delivery, and to accept furniture collections that our team bring in.
In summary then, we're open to Sunday working where there is a client has the volume of jobs to sustain it, but in our experience so far, there simply hasn't been the demand.
