Despite the fact that this piece comes to you via London Hospital, E1, and despite its headline, it’s not about the weight of the newborn.

Paul Broadbent runs a small CTN in outpatients, without the ciggies, though, and no booze either - one understands the stance, but since 70% of his customers are staff, it’s probably a pity from a retailing point of view. He rang to comment on the little piece in my April 12 column, where Kishan Patel had pointed out that Smiths News always told him that, as his deliveries were weighed, his complaints about short deliveries were unacceptable.

“Did that weight include the water?” asks Paul.

His wholesaler is Menzies and he is struggling to get anyone senior to call him back over soggy supplies. I am going to forward his problem to Dorothy King, who is the administrator of the Press Distribution Forum, which strives for harmony between retailers and news wholesalers. She has a good strike rate.

He is not the first to point out that you cannot sell wet magazines, even if you go to trouble of drying them.

And on that weight issue, I suspect that Menzies and Smiths weigh their supplies in some nice dry warehouse, not after they reach the tote boxes.•

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