2026 Schedule · UK-wide
UK Bank Holiday Cargo Collection Schedule
Bank holidays affect when we can collect from your address and when sea freight loads at UK ports. Use this 2026 calendar to plan your UK → Nigeria shipment around closures and avoid surprise delays.
Every UK Bank Holiday in 2026
| Date | Holiday | Region | Collection Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January Thursday | New Year's Day Office closed. No collections. Sea freight loading paused at UK ports. | UK-wide | Closed |
| 2 January Friday | New Year Holiday Reduced Scottish collections. England/Wales/NI normal. | Scotland only | Reduced |
| 17 March Tuesday | St Patrick's Day NI collections paused. Mainland UK normal. | Northern Ireland | Reduced |
| 3 April Friday | Good Friday Office closed. No collections. Easter peak — book early March. | UK-wide | Closed |
| 6 April Monday | Easter Monday Office closed. No collections. Easter peak. | UK (excl. Scotland) | Closed |
| 4 May Monday | Early May Bank Holiday Office closed. Collections resume Tue 5 May. | UK-wide | Closed |
| 25 May Monday | Spring Bank Holiday Office closed. Sea departure deferred to following week. | UK-wide | Closed |
| 13 July Monday | Battle of the Boyne NI collections paused. Mainland UK normal. | Northern Ireland | Reduced |
| 31 August Monday | Summer Bank Holiday Office closed. Pre-Detty December planning starts after this. | UK (excl. Scotland) | Closed |
| 30 November Monday | St Andrew's Day Scottish collections paused. England/Wales/NI normal. | Scotland only | Reduced |
| 25 December Friday | Christmas Day Office closed. No collections all week typically. | UK-wide | Closed |
| 28 December Monday | Boxing Day (substitute) Boxing Day moves to Mon as 26 Dec is a Saturday. Office reopens 29 Dec. | UK-wide | Closed |
ⓘ Schedule based on official UK government bank holiday dates for 2026. Christmas / New Year typically sees an extended seasonal closure — see below.
Plan Around the Peak Closures
Christmas / New Year
Office closed Fri 25 Dec → Mon 28 Dec, with limited service through to 1 Jan 2027.
Detty December cutoff: book sea cargo by mid-October, air freight by mid-December for guaranteed delivery before Christmas.
Easter
Office closed Fri 3 April + Mon 6 April. Easter peak runs late February through Easter weekend.
Easter cutoff: book sea cargo by mid-February for delivery before Easter Sunday.
May & August Long Weekends
Mon 4 May, Mon 25 May, Mon 31 August. Office closed but no major Nigeria-corridor demand surge.
Standard advice: book your collection 2–3 working days before the bank holiday Monday.
How Bank Holidays Affect Your UK → Nigeria Shipment
A UK bank holiday usually means a one-day pause in collection availability — but the knock-on effects can stretch the full timeline by 2–5 days depending on what's affected. Here's exactly what happens behind the scenes:
1. Collection day shifts
If your booked collection date falls on a bank holiday, our drivers move it to the next working day. Most customers don't mind the shift — but if you have a hard deadline (Christmas, Easter, a wedding), book your collection at least one full working week before the bank holiday.
2. Sea cargo loading at UK ports
UK ports (Felixstowe, Southampton, Tilbury) reduce or pause container handling on bank holidays. A single bank holiday Monday can shift the next weekly Nigeria sailing by 5–7 days because containers need to be stuffed, customs-cleared, and onboarded — none of which happens during the closure window.
3. Air freight cargo terminals
Heathrow, Gatwick, and Stansted air cargo terminals operate 365 days, but with reduced staffing on bank holidays. Documentation processing slows. Build in 1–2 extra days for any air freight booking that touches a bank holiday window.
4. UK customs (HMRC CDS)
HMRC's Customs Declaration Service operates 24/7 but human-handled queries pause on bank holidays. If your shipment requires manual review, expect a 1-day delay per bank holiday in the chain.
5. Nigerian end is unaffected
UK bank holidays do not affect our Lagos office or Nigerian customs clearance — our Ikeja team operates on Nigerian public holidays only. So once cargo has departed the UK, the Nigerian end timeline stays predictable regardless of UK closures.
Quick Booking Rules
- ✓ For sea cargo to arrive before a major Nigerian holiday: book at least 8 weeks ahead, plus an extra 5–7 days if the timeline crosses a UK bank holiday week.
- ✓ For air freight before a major Nigerian holiday: book at least 3 weeks ahead; add 1–2 days per UK bank holiday in the window.
- ✓ For document courier with a hard deadline: avoid booking pickup the day before any bank holiday Monday — book the Friday morning instead.
- ✓ If you missed the cutoff for a Nigerian holiday: WhatsApp us anyway. Sometimes we can squeeze a parcel onto a flight at short notice — just call before booking online.
Plan Your Shipment Around the Calendar
Tell us your delivery deadline and we'll book backwards from there — accounting for every bank holiday and port closure in the window.