Well what a weekend and the snow fell just at the wrong time for us here at Castfireplaces as on Sundays we deliver to London and the South and this weekend was planned to be the same.
Now i knew snow was forecast for Saturday morning but i was hoping it would have cleared intime for our London delivery runs well how wrong was i.
Infact it did not really start snowing till around 3pm Saturday which turned out to be unfortunate for us as i was very close to swapping delivery day to Saturday instead but chose to keep it as Sunday.
Well we were away at the Belfry Saturday and Sunday morning so i rang our drivers saying if it was really bad not to go and contact all our customers, well i awoke this morning and looked out of hotel window and it was white over around 4″-6″ deep i knew then or hoped none of our fireplace delivery vans had tried to make the trip.
Im glad to say they has all seen sense and checked out M1 and M25 cameras online and they showed a grim picture of weather conditions.
All the customers were rung 1st off and informed and everyone appreciated that and realised it wasnt our fault, so know what to do to clear this backlog luckily we have spoken with all our customers and all them bar one cant take delivery of the fireplaces and stoves they have ordered this Tuesday.
We could not really have postponed them all to next week as some had fitting dates and our vans would have been well overloaded.
So the weather was that bad here in Derbyshire the Derby v Forest match has been postponed and im sad to say our Owner of Forest has died this weekend RIP Nigel Doughty a true footballing man.
So thanks to our customers for being very understanding we really thank you for your help in arranging alternative delivery day.

Hello and hope your all sheltering from the wet weather we seem to be having, ive just returned into the office after an hour at football training with Jaiden and what a horrible evening it is.
I returned just in time for Steve to collect one of our fireplace delivery vans that we have loaded today for the North West, its nice agian to start delivering our fireplaces and stoves after a couple of weeks off the lads have a very busy week ahead starting tomorrow.
Paul only lives around the corner from us so he came around teatime to collect paperwork for the Devon run which is also out tomorrow so Steve was the last to collect the van today.
I hope the weather clears a little its not a nice job driving down motorways with the wind blowing a storm force gale and wind lashing in too it makes it a little difficult.
But we do have fireplaces and stoves to be delivered and thats what we do here so off they have both gone to deliver opur gallery fireplace to new homes.
Its nice to be back to normal and back to work and back in a routine where beer and food are not being gorged daily so im very glad to to say things are back to normal and once again Castfireplaces is back up to full speed

Hello and im pleased to say we are now finished for Christmas we have been at the factory and showroom all day and have had 6 different lots of customers collect items today as this was the last chance.
We have now finished work and all the fireplace delivery drivers are starting an early festive holiday and are not due back untill Thursday 5th January which i can assure you they deserve.
So today i have taken around 5 or 6 phonecalls asking if they order today can they have delivery before Christmas these areas range from London, Glasgow and the closest Walsall.
Im afraid the answer to all these enquires is No we can not undertake any more delivery runs no matter how big or small the order is we have finished for Christmas.
Today was also the last chance for collection too so im afriad it will be a January delivery or collection for anything you require from Castfireplaces.
Why people leave things so late to order is beyond me there really is very little chance of customers getting things so late as most companies do not keep fireplaces and stoves in stock.
So last day for me tomorrow as well as im out delivering locally and then feet up and relax

Good afternnon and an early start at the factory and showroom this morning in Langley Mill loading all the vans for the final delivery run this year from Castfireplaces.
I was there early this morning at the factory getting everyhting wrappped and marked up to load our threee vans for the weekends London and South Run.
As all the routes are now planned and everything is loaded im quite relieved to say thats everything done and apart from me going to Nottingham and Codnor on Tuesday our fireplace delivery runs are now complete for this year.
As some of you may know we have employed another driver so i can dedicate more time to being in the office and showroom instead of being out helping deliver all our fireplaces and stoves, to be honest im quite sad about it i like driving and meeting our customers i honestly enjoyed.
I sometimes wish we had not started our expansion plans years ago it was really nice meeting our customer after we had dealt with them over the phone or internet etc and completing the orders myself.
Anyway enough nostalgia if you are now ordering a fireplace or stove from Castfireplaces we now cannot delivery untill January and im at the showroom tomorrow morning for collections and we are also there all day Monday and Tuesday morning.
Im feeling very festive now and im really looking forward to our Christmas break.

Good Evening and what a windy day it has been Steve returned from the North in our smallest van and said it had be blown all around the road, Paul had been around Birmingham and said it was fine what a difference a few hundred miles make.
So as we enter our last full week of delivery runs next week we are currently heading to these places

South West inc Torqauy and Devon Tuesday 13th
South Wales and the Midlands Thursday 15th
North West Thursday 15th
We are also doing local delivery runs around Nottingham, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire on Tuesday 13th
London and the South Sunday 18th

After these delivery runs are complete it will be January delivery for any other fireplaces or stoves ordered as we are not intending to deliver the following week and as we break up Tuesday 20th this will then be our last day in the office.
So if you want a fireplace or stove from Castfireplaces before Christmas time really is running out we do also have the option of collection if you are not on one of our planned delivery runs and as we keep so much in stock you may find thats an option for all you late ordering people.
If anything does change and for some reason we add different runs we will inform you all in our articles section just a quick not to our delivery staff i know how hard you have been working over the last months and appreciate everything you do to make Castfireplaces the best place to shop online for fireplaces and stoves.

Cast your mind back a year and the whole of the UK was gripped in icy freezing wintry weather with temps down to minus twenty and snow around 18″ deep it really was a problem.
As castfireplaces deliver all our own fireplaces and stoves using our own vans and transport we are praying the snow holds off for another two weeks so we can deliver right up to the 20th December if needed to get everything delivered in time for Christmas.
Last year was an absolute delivery nightmare and we did have to delay a few delivery days and reading back through our articles section its like a personal diary and i remember only to well what troubles we had.
So do me a favour weather and don’t bother snowing until we all finish for Chrisatmas and the deadline day of Christmas Day has gone, people do not mind fireplaces or stoves being late delivered in January but with customers wanting to finish rooms for Christmas and new year we could well do without it.
So fingers crossed the weather will hold off and its just the really hilly parts such as Buxton which by all acounts will have 10cm of snowfall this evening.
I see the gritters are out in force stopping the icy roads we had last year and even thoughthe extreme cold weather was great for business i dont mind it getting as cold as it wants when we have broke up.

Good Evening its nearly 6pm and im sat in the office wondering where one of our drivers have got too i know it has been a very busy day on the roads with them all returning late.
Each one is over an hour late and Paul who should have been back at around 4.30pm is very late, even with the best route planning by yours truly to ensure our customers have an hour window for the fireplace or stove delivery even our modern sat nav systems cannot predict traffic.
I know we use HD traffic systems which divert us enroute if there are faster routes available but they can not predict the traffic when i plan the delivery routes three days before.
Well traffic has been the least of Steves problems today as one of our our vans down a country lane in Surrey was hit by a Rolls Royce of all vehicles whose driver did not even stop luckily for us Steve saw it coming as his was stationary and jumped out an managed to take the Rolls Reg number.
Now we all know leaving the scene of an accident is another crime so Surrey police have been informed and investigating our reported incicdent
So i have just had tea and Paul has arrived back safely he had a tale of woe of the A12 being closed not a good day but everyone has had a fireplace or stove delivered and we are another week closer to our Christmas break

A large week of delivery of fireplaces and stoves here at Castfireplaces along with our usual weekly runs this week we are going to South Wales, North West, Newcastle and Durham and a local midlands run.
Apart from this we are delivering to a company in Kidderminster that our customer uses for a Firefox 8 Stove that is on its way to Spain.
We have also sent by pallet via our great suppliers a Crown and Brompton limestone fireplace and a Edinburgh Full Polished Fireplace all for solid fuel use complete with granite hearths which are now on there way to County Down Belfast.
So as you can see Castfireplaces really do sell fireplaces and stoves all over the UK these are normall undertaken by our own van delivery but we do not deliver directly to Northern Ireland due to ferry costs but im very sure given half a chance our Delivery staff would travel to Sunny Spain.
So if we do not deliver to your area in our own vans we can normally offer an alternative delivery service even if it has to come by pallet delivery or by some other means.
Right im shutting the pcs down now and finishing for the evening and relaxing before another busy day tomorrow

A strange question today as to how we deliver our fireplace hearths to our customers i asked what do you mean exactly how we load them into our vans or the fact that we transport them in our own vans i enquired.
To save my fingers wearing away typing the response it turns out Mr Fisher had ordered two granite hearths from another online company who sent them out by the dreaded pallet service which made them £10 cheaper than ours.
These arrived to Mr Fisher in many pieces as they were shrink wrapped onto a pallet face to face and as soon as they the lorry hits a bump they cracked straight away.
The care we take in transporting granite hearths is extreme they are individually wrapped and strapped either upright or on the side in our racks on the van.
This we have found enusres they arrive safely and over the years delivering fireplaces and stoves we have had so few damages we are really proud of our delivery service.
So our customer now has two hearths on order to Wigan next tuesday with the assurance that they will arrive in one piece so he can get them fitted next week.
So sometimes were not always the cheapest but you can rest assured we do have the best delivery service and its better to pay a little extra to make sure they arrive without damage and the upmost of care

When you order a fireplace from Castfireplaces we will personaly give you a call to arrange delivery with you and advise days and then a few days before to confirm a delivery time.
We do give you an hour window that we try our best to hit but with traffic and accidents sometimes we can run a little out of this, one of our customers once commented on us travelling three hundered miles to them and arriving ontime within our one hour window and then said that Asda which was 5 miles away gave a two hour window and were late.
So these delivery windows are a good indication of when we will arrive with you but sometimes we do run little late or even early.
So if you need to be somewhere let us have a contact phone number and our freindly drivers will ring you en-route to ensure you do not have to be waiting around for us.
This is one of the reasons i believe shopping with us here at Castfireplaces for your chosen fireplace and stove is the best on or offline.
If your not 100 sure have a read through our testimonials page and see what our customers say about shopping with us we really are the best.