Send parcel to United Kingdom - Isle of Man

Why does the island fill up with motorbikes at the end of May, and what does that have to do with parcels?

Because for two weeks between late May and early June the Isle of Man hosts the Tourist Trophy, the oldest and most famous road race for motorcycles in the world, run on a sixty-kilometre circuit of ordinary roads closed to traffic. The island has just over eighty thousand inhabitants and in those days it takes in almost half as many again: riders, mechanics and fans, many with their own bike in tow. From Italy come spare parts, tyres, helmets, leathers and technical clothing, a field in which Italian brands are among the most sought after in the paddock. Anyone who wants a parcel to arrive before practice needs to bear in mind that the ferries from England are booked up weeks in advance and that the Friday of the main races is a public holiday on the island. At the end of August the scene repeats on a smaller scale with the Manx Grand Prix. On 5 July, instead, the island celebrates Tynwald Day, its national day, with the open-air sitting of parliament at St John's and offices closed.

Isle of Man and United Kingdom: what changes for customs?

The Isle of Man is not part of the United Kingdom. It is a Crown Dependency with its own government and its own parliament, the Tynwald, which considers itself the oldest continuously sitting parliament in the world. For customs purposes, however, the island forms a single area with the United Kingdom, so a parcel from Italy follows the same rules as a parcel to London or Manchester: it goes through customs, and every parcel needs its paperwork. For shipments between private individuals an accurate description of the contents and an honestly declared value are enough. For commercial goods you need the invoice with the items described one by one, the HS codes and the recipient's EORI number, which businesses on the island obtain through the British system. The language is English, so the documents need no translation.

IM in front of every postcode: how do I write the address?

The system is the British one and every postcode on the island begins with IM, followed by a digit that identifies the area: Douglas, the capital, has IM1 and IM2, while Ramsey, Peel, Castletown and Port Erin have their own. The label carries the recipient, the house number before the street name as is customary in the English-speaking world, the town, the postcode and "Isle of Man" as the country. An example: "Joe Bloggs, 12 Victoria Street, Douglas, IM1 1AA, Isle of Man, tel. +44 1624 ...". The dialling code is the British one and every landline on the island shares the 1624 area code. Road signs often show two names, because alongside English there is Manx, the island's Gaelic language, and Douglas becomes Doolish. On the address, always use the English form.

How does a parcel reach an island in the middle of the Irish Sea?

Through England. The parcel crosses the Channel and passes through the British sorting hubs, then carries on to the port of Heysham in Lancashire, where the ferry to Douglas departs, or flies to Ronaldsway airport in the south of the island. The Irish Sea is the stretch that decides the timing: when the wind blows hard in winter, the ferry can skip a crossing and the parcel waits on shore for the next one. The damp, salty air calls for sturdy outer packaging, with tape run along every seam and, for electronics, a sealed bag inside. Once ashore the rest is simple: from Douglas any point on the island is less than an hour away, and even the most remote villages get deliveries every day.

Who is waiting for Italian parcels on the Isle of Man?

An economy far more varied than you would expect from an island this size. Douglas is home to online gaming companies, insurers, funds and trust services, and their offices are furnished with Italian-designed furniture and seating. Around Ronaldsway airport works a cluster of precision engineering firms for the aerospace industry, which receives tools, components and materials. The island's ship register is one of the most widely used in the world for large yachts, and the firms that manage them from Douglas order supplies and paperwork for boats sailing elsewhere. Restaurants, which have grown with the TT visitors and a community of well-off residents, buy coffee machines, pasta, oil, cheese and wine. And the island's motorcyclists, who live in a place where the bike is almost a religion, order spare parts and accessories from Italy all year round, not just in May.