Blades-Uk.Com - Swords, Martial Arts, Sporting Goods

Business As Usual for the time being, we will be migrating to an adult signature delivery service, coupled with our existing pre-despatch age verification to comply with the new laws which will be coming into force shortly.
While we can continue to trade using the courier 'add on' adult signature service it is a far cry from the specialist age verified delivery service I wish to create and I hope to convince my competitors to dig into their pockets and help get this in place as a priority.

Bit of news for blade fans, the new law is only a matter of weeks away now, but today parliament will debate an amendment that would allow delivery by 'trusted couriers' to home addresses. As you may know, we have been pushing for a specialist age verified delivery service to be included in the bill so we have the option of creating or using such a service, today we find out if that's a real prospect, fingers crossed

A couple of updates for all you blade enthusiasts, the new delivery legislation finishes its House of Commons review on the 15th of October and then has to go through the House of Lords so is unlikely to come into force during 2018.

Thought I'd post something positive just for a change
We're investing in a lot of new stock for next year as we finally know we will be able to continue to trade, we have a new website under construction that will be far easier to navigate on mobile devices and search options to find what you need.
The home delivery/collection service I want to create has not gained the support it really requires from the few large businesses that would need to use it for it to offer timely '...deliveries', one company is looking toward its own solution to work with businesses to create a local collection network that could be offered to the entire industry, a couple of others are simply down in the dumps over the whole situation, they may come round.
Regardless I am pressing ahead with the planning so we have it ready to deploy even if it remains a backup plan at this time,
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Finally you can sign our petition asking the government to add age verified on delivery by ID as an option to the Offensive Weapons Bill.
May not sound like much but it will give us the opportunity to create a fit for purpose ID checked delivery service run with iron clad procedures in place.
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/ 223314

This petition is taking off - it says they want the entire section about knives removed from the Bill so nothing would change.
I'm sharing it and I'd recommend signing it just for the sake of doing something, but honestly asking the government to do nothing after they've said loud and clear they are going to do something, seems like a fool's errand
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/ 222776

*** Petition is now getting checked so can't be signed yet ***
We've created a petition asking for ID checked on delivery to residential addresses to be added as an option to the new legislation, please show your support and sign;
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitio… /223314/sponsors/new…

Delivery Legislation update;
We've now read through the draft legislation and here's main points as it stands
The Law will cover all bladed articles
... Delivery to a business address (e.g. work address or a local shop where you know the owner or your local MOT garage, I know my local mechanic well enough to ask such a favour for instance)
is possible if we can be certain the person signing for the goods will be over 18, and of course that our customer is over 18, expect to be answering several new questions as part of our age check in this scenario
Post Office Click and Collect for smaller orders will be an option, we will require verifiable ID for the person who the goods will be addressed to, as the person named will be the only person able to collect the goods, that is strong evidence the goods are being handed to someone over 18
Post Office/Courier Depot collections should also be possible, again we run the age checks to confirm the person named on the order is over 18.
Purchasing at your home address - via our own face to face mobile sales service it's a viable option for most of the UK but wont include Scotland or NI initially, cost to be between £10-15 with coverage of all postcodes once every 2-3 weeks - this is a service where you choose which items you want online then buy them face to face at your address when we turn up on a pre-arranged date - anyone under 25 will need to show photo ID.
Sadly the law also makes it an offence for us England based companies to ship to home addresses in Scotland so although the new law doesn't apply in Scotland, it effectively wipes out shipping there (apart from collection options above)
We hope to work with other retailers to be able to offer our new mobile sales service, in fact it's really quite an incredible business opportunity for anyone who wants to get on board.
Don't forget it isn't law yet.
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To keep everyone up to date, Parliament will begin debating the proposed legislation today that includes the dreaded knife delivery ban.
I think it's too soon to be cementing a path ahead just yet but we have a worst case scenario lined that up that will consist of a potential customer choosing the items they want online, paying in region of £10 for an appointment to view them and then when we arrive at their chosen address we check ID/ take payment by cash/card (if they wish to purchase), as this would be a face to face sale and paying for an appointment to view goods is not an order - the legislation, whatever it may be, will not apply. If this does become the way forward I hope to be able to offer the service to other businesses

new item that’s just arrived, does anyone know what this is from ?

job lot 10, probably some surface imperfections, £29 the lot, pls call 01945 701022 to order - Now SOLD but plenty more on our clearance page
these usually go on our clearance page, we’re having a big clear out so it might be worth liking that page for some super bargains facebook.com/bladesuk2

Please Help Us by emailing your MP.
Regarding the upcoming Offensive Weapons Bill on delivery of knives. We understand a change in the law is inevitable but let's make it one that is reasonable and fair, please consider requiring businesses to use an 'age verified delivery service' for residential addresses rather than a totally unnecessary outright ban, it will achieve the same goal but will not be as destructive to businesses, their employees and us as hobbyists. The industry is already prepared to create and fund such a delivery operation so it seems entirely unreasonable to punish your constituents by supporting this bill without such a reasonable amendment.
https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-o ffices/mps/

The Government is pressing ahead at speed with it's legislation banning delivery to residential addresses, it is not in force yet.
Rather than going for a sensible ID checked delivery requirement, they have decided to go with the dumbest most impractical 'solution' they could, I have no idea how they intend massive courier operations to be able to comply with such complexity and fear they may simply stop carrying any edged items in response.
We have been working tirelessly i...n the background developing our own solution to this worst case scenario and will, if needed, be offering 'Blades Mobile' which for £15-20 will be able to fill your order at your address in a face to face manor.
If we don't hit a worst case situation we expect to continue to be able to deliver to work addresses, your friend/relatives work address if you don't have one, or any business on which you may be on good terms with the owner such as perhaps your local garage, local shop or most local gun shops will already be offering a collection service for goods ordered online for a small charge, if you pop in and ask.
Further, this is not law yet, it is worth talking to your MP pressing them to consider less disruptive options that achieve the same goal, the ID check delivery service already exists and is something we would invest in further and be able to offer to other businesses. Also, frankly, the current law will be discriminatory to those without business addresses such as the retired and housebound etc.
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Our biggest Sale Ever is underway, items priced lower than ever before, most almost at or even below our cost price to make sure we clear everything, here's the quick link - enjoy - https://www.blades-uk.com/search_results. php?q=sale

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to all our wonderful customers, with an uncertain 2018 ahead for our industry, we're going to be having our biggest ever sale to clear stock, We'll post details here when we get it underway shortly

Legislation to 'ban' delivery of blades to non-business addresses in the UK has taken a step further forward with it entering the consultation stage, so likely to come into force in 2018. Rather than seeing this as a devastating scenario for our business, I see an opportunity to create an age verified delivery service, current couriers who offer this service won't carry blades, so there is real demand. If there's anyone out there who could offer some direction/ideas to this end, please get in touch

For anyone following the news on possible new knife legislation, I thought I'd share our two cents worth.
Trading Standards have been no help to our industry at all, In 14 years they've tested us just once (we passed). They created a best practice guide saying 'use Visa card as a means to confirm you're dealing with over 18's, while they send out a 14 year old with a visa card to catch underage online sales'. I pointed out the the flaws in there best practice guide and offered to help, I was brushed off, I spoke to them in detail about what support this industry needs in 2009, that we have the technology in place to prevent underage sales and all they can recommend is a ban.