Hi,
What to do while it is off being renewed?
In the old days as a journalist, I had two passports. Then while one was off being renewed/getting visas etc etc I used the other.
Also watched which countries put their stamps in which passports - ie Israel/Turkey/Cyprus etc
Passport Office has a helpline, give them a call,
Very best,
XA
ps. Of course, some journos had an Irish as well as a UK passport (easy to do if you can find just one distant Irish relative!) But Irish passports - while being fine if you want to be "non-British" in troubled parts of the world - used to cost about double the price of UK ones.