‘I sort through hockey sticks and fancy dress’

Extra staff have been recruited at a large logistics warehouse, which first opened to process coronavirus testing kits during the pandemic, to cope with Black Friday and Christmas demand.

Kammac’s Wavertree site in Liverpool is crammed with a vast array of items from socks to Santa outfits, and cat litter to canine treats.

Originally opened to process billions of Covid test kits and PPE, this winter the site has seen more than 350,000 Black Friday and Christmas orders already planned and processed.

Manager Andrea Gonakova said the busy period for the warehouse begins in October and then intensifies around Black Friday, the day when retailers slash prices ahead of Christmas.

Black Friday originally marked the day after Thanksgiving in the US but in recent years the sales have extended into the weeks before and after.

Alec Hunt, director of e-commerce at the firm, told BBC Radio Merseyside: "Most of the customer stock comes in from China.

"For example, it can arrive on a Monday, it will be receipted and stored and someone may order it that night.

"We will then process it on the Tuesday for delivery anywhere in the UK next day."

Thirty-one people are employed full-time at the site, one of 14 operated by the Skelmersdale-based company.

The seasonal workforce has almost tripled that number as orders have flooded in.

Ms Gonakova, fulfilment general manager, said: “ We have a diverse portfolio of customers so you can see everything from hockey sticks next to fun costumes. We pick it we pack it and then we ship it.”

She said this is the company’s busiest period, adding: "It starts in October when we get the goods in and then customers shop for Christmas and Christmas gifts taking advantage of the Black Friday deals."

Part of the company’s year-round business involves working with a top-branded cat food manufacturer supplying 750 stores nationwide.

Even that demand peaks at this time of year as sales of cat litter increase as felines prefer to remain indoors when the temperatures plummet.

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