Although autumn is best for planting (soil still warm but air cooling so reducing moisture loss) you can plant your shrub in spring when the soil has warmed.

Skimmias like acid soil so if you are in a limy/chalky area you will need to either plant in a large container or dig out an area of soil and replace with a mix of ericacious compost and lime-free topsoil.

Choose a bit of light shade if possible and make sure the soil does not dry out for at least the first year (can easily happen with spring planting when the evaporation of summer follows - give it a good soaking at each watering rather than a little on more frequent occasions).

If you are really keen you could look on the internet about the male/female thing for berries/flowers etc.

welcoe to GoY. I would wait until spring when the weather has warmed up abit. John has made some good points re site/soil/light etc.

..and don't forget that it will need to be hardened off (if it's inside at the moment) properly before finally being planted out.

As you live in London, Mitchell, you can plant it out in March, as long as the ground's not frozen, but the most crucial thing is to harden it off first if you have it inside, as Volunteer mentions. This is a fully hardy shrub, but you'll need to acclimatise it to outside first by standing it outside during the day for short periods, extending those periods gradually over a week or more (having chosen time when the weather isn't bitterly cold, of course) until eventually you leave it out all night, and then you can plant it. If you put the plant outside in its pot as soon as you got it, then you can plant any time from now on when the ground isn't frozen, preferably not in full sun and not in alkaline soil.