Family's 365-day festive spirit

4:48am Friday 12th October 2007

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It may be more than ten weeks until Christmas.

But for a group of workers at a Sussex firm every day feels like the festive season.

Regardless of whether there is August sunshine or April showers Bryan and Natalie Nortcliff spend their lives making mechanical displays of Dickensian winter scenes, giant wreaths and Father Christmas heads to brighten up December.

The family-run business Merlin Displays, off Fairway Business Park in Moulsecoomb Way, Brighton, builds elaborate Christmas displays in shopping centres such as Brighton's Churchill Square and other festive spots such as The Argus Christmas Grotto.

There are also polar bears, penguins, snow-covered Christmas trees and snowmen which are arranged among cascades of twinkling lights and sparkling presents.

Natalie, 47, said shoppers passing by their decorations every year did not realise how long they took to create.

She said the business, which has been running for ten years, starts its bidding process for the following Christmas in late January - immediately after the manic two weeks spent taking all the decorations and displays down.

They then work throughout the year designing, building, painting and setting up the displays.

The mother-of-two, whose eldest son Jake has just started working for the family firm, said her line of work was one of the few which allowed them to have a rest over the festive period and enjoy Christmas properly.

She said: "Unlike the shops which are struggling with Christmas decorations on Christmas Eve, all our work is done in plenty of time and we normally get a couple of weeks off to enjoy the holiday once the displays have been set up. It ends up being the quietest time of the year for us.

"Even though we deal in Christmas all year round we actually get to enjoy it and so never get sick of it.

"People think it is really freaky working on Christmas when the sun is shining but for me it is Christmas every day of the year and I love creating things for it."

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