Business is booming in the world of couriers ? with both FedX and IBC rushed off their feet this Christmas with more goods than ever being shipped in by residents.

Both of the main couriers on the Island, IBC and FedX, reported an upsurge in business from ten to 32 percent compared to last Christmas with residents still choosing to shop on-line and ship their own goods in.

This is despite large sales in the shops and speculation that many locals might be doing more shopping on-Island rather than looking overseas for presents.

Glen Smith, owner, president and chief executive officer of IBC (which included ZipX and UPS) said that his business had seen a 32 percent increase year-over-year, and among all the divisions were handling about 2,000 parcels and letters a day (they normally do about 800 a day).

FedX reported that they were up about ten or 15 percent on the same period a year before ? but this year there had been much more of a last minute rush, and an extra plane was charted to come in on Christmas Eve to help with the huge demand. But unfortunately bad weather in Memphis meant that a connecting flight with packages did not make the deadline ? leaving some gifts on mainland US for the holiday period.

?We are opening until 8 p.m. to help people pick up their packages,? said Chris Heslop, country manager at FedX on Christmas Eve.

?We have been working flat out to make sure everything is done for our customers. But this year it seems people have left it all very last minute and we are just trying to get the packages out.?

Mr. Smith said that his company had been taking advantage of a dedicated 727 flight each day, and he and his staff had been working from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. to clear the huge volumes.

?Last year we invested in a new computer system and tracking device, which means that we have been able to reduce overheads and keep costs down,? said Mr. Smith.

He said that their peak had been December 18, when they had had most of their deliveries, and it had calmed down a bit in the run up to Christmas.

?Business has been doing well and I am extremely happy this Christmas ? we are up 32 percent over last year,? he said. ?We have been doing very well with our Internet shopping site and catalogue and people are using us not only for Internet shopping.

?When they are travelling, they do not like the hassle of bringing things back with the airlines and we ship them and can deliver their goods to their door.

?And plus people are getting more and more savvy with using the Internet and websites are getting better and better.?

Mr. Heslop said that he said that FedX had some problems this year getting shipments in due to bad weather in the US.

He said normally they dealt with a lot of large bulk shipments for businesses, but at this time of year had many smaller deliveries which were individual Christmas presents.

?But there had been a big upsurge at the last minute this year,? added Mr. Heslop. ?I imagine that is because people are able to do it with better shipping schedules and Internet shopping, so they are leaving their shopping until later.?