Honestly no idea as I'm not shop staff, so you'll need to contact them
You said earlier:
"and the limited shop staff can either spend time repeating the same things over and over, in which case everyone would still moan as they weren't getting the orders shipped or they can try and get on with their jobs and make the best out of a horrible sucky situation that we're all in."
The shop staff don't know anything because they don't have access to the information on their PC screens, those who should know something are not available to speak to customers. We find that although they should be chasing for answers and stock they have not been doing so. Failing to contact an OEM supplier for 4 - 6 weeks when you are the sole importer is unacceptable in anyones books. Worse still there is no evidence that the contact was initiated by OCUK, it could well have come from the OEM !