Thanks again for all the suggestions, I managed to hang on in the end and the resupply came in to the distributors on the 4th as predicted; I got mine on the 5th. My reseller told me that the distributor he uses, one of only two in the UK, received 100 chromatic reds of which 90 odd went out the same day. Apparently it wasn't just red ink either, there were numerous examples of HP media which simply haven't been available, particularly for latex printers - I'm surprised this wasn't a bigger story, I guess Z users are a stoical bunch!
William.