Traders fear loss of prime Christmas sales as Royal Mail moves cutoff dates

Alex Stewart, whose company, OneNine5, makes award-winning wash bags, laptop sleeves and pouches, even considered hiring a van to do his own deliveries. Photograph: Richard P Walton

Small businesses that rely on Royal Mail to deliver their products to customers before Christmas are being forced to take their last orders for gifts as early as this weekend because of the postal backlog already building up as a series of postal worker strikes looms over the next fortnight.

Others are working around the clock to ensure orders already placed arrive before 25 December.