So as a fair few of you will know I run danST Engineering on a part time basis (dont let that put you off though I try to be honest and upfront about lead times etc) and work a normal 9-5 job.

I am really struggling with accepting deliveries due to my day job - I am having to rely on my (elderly) relatives to be in during the day and have stuff delivered to them which is really not fair on them now the business is growing and deliveries increase.

So, I guess I need to look at these parcel 'drop-point' type services where corner shops/pubs etc are used as a middle man for deliveries and dispatch. I'm mostly bothered about deliveries as I send most stuff royal mail and have convenient access to a post office.

Has anyone got much experience with them - any recommendations? Its the deliveries that seem to be the issue - I looked at http://www.collectplus.co.uk which seems great but then it appears that the merchant you are buying from needs to be registered with collect+ in order to have stuff delivered to their network.

This is hindering me quite badly at the moment and meaning that quite often I end up sourcing stuff locally (typically raw materials) at added expense due to not being able to accept deliveries.

Cant comment on the one you mentioned.

My company have just started using


http://my.bybox.com/


again, not really sure how good they are. But another option?

Would something like this suffice?

http://www.mbe.co.uk/mailbox_services/

http://www.thestoreroom.co.uk/business-storage/secure-private-mailbox-rental.htm

If your business is growing maybe it's time to ask your 9-5 boss if you can drop a day? Or one morning/afternoon?