Christmas Open Hours 2025
Make sure you're up to date with our Christmas opening hours so that you know when to expect your deliveries this festive season!
Please be aware that during our closed period, staff may be unavailable for some Customer Support or Returns queries until our return in the New Year. If you've got a technical query or would like some recommendations, you can try checking with our Official Community Facebook Group as other customers are often very familiar with our equipment and/or issue you're experiencing and may be able to help!
Delivery Notices
Place your order before 3pm on the following dates to ensure your order arrives before Christmas:
International Orders Deadline* - Friday 12th December
Standard UK Delivery (2-4 working days) - Tuesday 16th December
Next UK Working Day - Thursday 18th December
T&Cs
- We would recommend allowing at least 1-2 working days for next working day delivery to arrive in order to avoid disappointment as couriers will receive a large volume of packages during the festive period.
- The above is a guide only, we cannot guarantee delivery before Christmas, we can only guarantee dispatch from our warehouse to give it the best possible chance of arriving with you in time.
- Orders placed while we are closed (including Christmas Sale orders) will be dispatched according to the delivery option selected where possible as we will have limited staff available throughout the holidays. Any outstanding orders after this time will dispatch from 2nd January onwards. Please check your online account for any tracking with DPD our UK couriers. Track at https://track.dpd.co.uk/
- Next Day Delivery: *Orders must be placed before 3pm between Monday-Thursday to arrive "Next Day". Orders placed after 3pm will be dispatched the next day, and those placed on Fridays after 3pm or on Weekends will be dispatched on Monday.
Opening Hours
Wednesday 17th December - Open 9:30am - 12:30pm.
Thurs 18th & Fri 19th December - Open 9:30am - 4:30pm.
Saturday 20th December - Thursday 1st January - CLOSED
Friday 2nd January - Open 9:30am - 4:30pm.
Returns Information
Festive Returns Period
Due to being closed throughout some of the Christmas period, we will be able to grant extensions to some customers for returns requests. This will be for customers who are unable to request their return or dispatch it before Friday 12th December.
Anyone requesting a return between 12th December - 1st January (within their 14-day cooling off period) and is eligible for return, will be asked to hold returns dispatches until the 5th January, whereupon you will be granted a two week period to ensure this is back with us as per the normal returns process.
We will not be open to receive returns during the Christmas period, so this is the safest way to ensure we receive your return safely and that it's not redirected back to you upon failed delivery attempts by couriers.
Non-returnable items remain non-returnable. If you are granted an extended returns period and your items are not received within the requested time period, these returns may be rejected.
T&Cs
- Please DO NOT send returns to us after Friday 12th December, to ensure that we are on-site to receive these. Returns already received will be processed and we aim to resolve these by the end of operations on the 19th December. Any refunds/return resolutions not received by then will be dealt with as a priority on our re-opening on the 2nd January. We are hoping to get through any backlog as quickly as possible. Please see our Returns page for our usual Returns Policy outside of holidays. Any chargeback or disputes opened as a result of Christmas delays will delay the refund process when we return.
- For any Christmas return requests outstanding by the 12th January, please get in touch at info@essentialphoto.co.uk with your order number and details.
