Christmas and New Year operating hours

Before you head off for your well-earned breaks, we ask you to help us save energy over the holiday period and reduce our environmental impact. 

Heating and levels of ventilation in non-critical areas are reduced during the period (as a result, buildings will be colder than usual and areas where ventilation is off or reduced may feel stuffy). 

Please agree nominated colleagues who will: 

• Switch off lighting
• Turn down radiator thermostats
• Shut windows, curtains and blinds to retain heat
• Switch off local printers, photocopiers and tea point water boilers
• Close fume cupboards and turn off the internal lighting. Where practical, combine equipment in one fume cupboard rather than leaving several on
• Turn off non-essential computer equipment (e.g. office monitors). If you are working from home you can access services remotely with Unified Access, but remember to Shut the Lid to Save the Grid when not using your laptop!
• Disconnect mobile phone charges, laptop power cables and battery chargers
• You can also visit ICT's sustainability web page if you have any electrical equipment you no longer use.

If you need help to arrange any of the above, contact your Building Manager.

To ensure areas are left safe, minimising the risk of floods and fires, we also ask that you carry out some housekeeping tasks

• Remove waste (especially combustibles such as paper and card)
• Unplug portable or temporary heaters
• Unplug non-essential electrical equipment from the mains
• Disconnect laboratory equipment from the water supply
• Check for dripping taps and get them fixed before the holiday (+44) 020 7594 8000 or Customer Services Centre)
• If you manage a laboratory or workshop area and you would like us to contact you in the event of emergency please make sure your Building Manager has your contact details

The shift engineers will be the point of contact in the event of building services emergency issues. Any emergencies must be reported via the Customer Service Centre at 0207 594 8000. Any defects reported online or by email during the holiday period will not be logged or addressed until 5 January 2026.

Unless prior arrangements have been made, there will be no cleaning or waste removal services during the closure period.

If you require IT support over the festive break, you can reach us by phone on +(44) 020 7594 9000 (49000 from an Imperial phone).

Our phone lines will be open from 10.00-16.00 on the following dates:

• Saturday 27 until Wednesday 31 December

You can continue to use the ASK portal during the closure period.

Our in-person service desks will close at 14.00 on Monday 22 December and reopen with standard hours from Monday 5 January.

The Taste Imperial outlets will close and reopen as follows:

• Library, Roastery, The Bakery (La Cantina), SCR Restaurant, Blackett, Reynolds, Wolfson, Uren and LMS will close on 23 December and reopen on 5 January 2026
• Essentials and Eastside, Lou Bird and The Raza will close from 22 December and reopen on 5 January 2026
• All other Taste Imperial outlets will close on 15 December and reopen on 5 January 2026

On Tuesday, 16 December – The office will close early at 13:00.

The ID card office will be closed from 12.00 on 22 December and re-open on 5 January at 08:00.

If you require assistance while the office is closed, please contact the Security Control Room on 020 7589 1000.

The Post Room will be closed from 15.30 on Friday 19 December and the last postal collections will take place as detailed below: 

• South Kensington at 13.00
• Royal Brompton at 14.00
• Chelsea and Westminster at 10.00
• White City /Stadium House at 13.00
• Hammersmith at 14.00
• Charing Cross at 13.30
• St Mary’s at 12.30

The last day for sending internal and external mail will be 19 December and Royal Mail’s last collection from South Kensington will be at 15.15. Hammersmith Campus Post Room will close at 15.00.

There will be no post services between 22 December and 4 January and normal service will resume 5 January 2025.

The car parking office will close at 16.00 on 22 December 2025, reopening at 08.00 on 5 January 2026. 

Requests for parking during the closure must be sent to the car parking office by noon on 19 December 2025. Late requests will not be processed. 

South Kensington car park remains open for Imperial staff, TAs, Postgraduates, and the public during this period. Valid Imperial ID is required, and parking operates on a first-come, first-served basis.

Overnight parking requests and bookings must also meet the 19 December deadline. Normal operations resume 5 January 2026.

For more information about parking at Imperial, visit the car parking webpages.

EYEC will be closed for Christmas from 22 December 2025 – 2 January 2026; the last day is 19 December 2025, closing at 14.00 and reopening on 5 January 2026.

To avoid disappointment, we recommend placing orders by 12 December.

Temperature sensitive items are needed before we close the doors on Friday 19 December.

Items arriving during the closure period will not be accepted and will generally be held by the courier company. This means any temperature sensitive items are likely to spoil by the time we return in January if they are not processed in accordance with our timelines.

Where possible, please make sure both local and international suppliers/collaborators are aware of the college closure dates, and if they are unable to deliver on or before the 19 December, delivery should be rescheduled for Monday 5 January 2026 or later.

Ethos’ holiday closures will be as follows: 

• Ethos will be closed from Tuesday 23 December and will reopen on Saturday 3 January (08:00 –16:00)
• All other remote gyms will be closed for the full university closure period.

Our shuttle bus operation runs until 22 December with no change to schedule. It will resume normal operations on the 5 January. There will be no Shuttle Bus service between 23 December and 4 January.

For more information about Imperial's shuttle bus service, please visit our webpage.