Thanks for the encouraging comments guys, Bryan in particular.
I only work for MyHobbyStore on a Freelance basis but, like everyone else, I don't like to see people having to wait for their issues (especially when they contain so much of my own brilliant work
). Because of my situation I do have a bit of inside knowledge and I try to keep people informed. In the case of the January issue I'm reliably told that the various agents all did their bit according to plan and that the delays in delivery were indeed down to the weather and Royal Mail. Obviously MHS don't want unhappy customers and will do their best to rectify any problems that are down to them but that was not the case on this occasion.
It is accepted that delivery of subscriber copies have been later than usual in recent months although not normally later than the nominal publication date. This issue has been addressed with the distributors and things should now improve (weather permitting!). While it is nice to get your subscription copy a few days in advance of it appearing in W.H Smith, as has been pointed out, it is hardly the end of the world if this does not happen on occasion as long as you do get the issue. It still remains the case that subscriptions are cheaper than buying off the shelves if you want to purchase most of the annual issues.
As one of our American Model Boats Forum members has pointed out to me, we are very fortunate in the UK to have two first class model boating magazines available. This is not the case elsewhere and we should value what we have.
Colin