10 days to save Christmas: shops warn of disruption due to lack of lorry drivers
Shortage of skilled drivers causes petrol station queues, while ONS says customers cannot buy all the food they want
Significant disruption to Christmas is “inevitable” unless the government fixes an acute shortage of lorry drivers in the next 10 days, the UK retail industry body has warned, as queues formed at petrol stations and official statistics showed shoppers could not find the food they wanted.
The British Retail Consortium said the lack of HGV drivers had left the country without the “glue” that held crucial supply chains of food and goods together.
“Without them, we are unable to move goods from farms to warehouses to shops,” said Andrew Opie, its director of food and sustainability.
“Unless a solution can be found in the next 10 days, it is inevitable that we will see significant disruption in the run-up to Christmas.”
The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, had earlier said he would “move heaven and earth” to solve the nationwide shortage of lorry drivers, as the issue began to threaten fuel supplies at some petrol stations.
He indicated that this could include issuing short-term visas to skilled workers from Europe, in the hope of attracting them to the UK to plug the gap.
https://www.theguardian.com/busines...nevitable-christmas-disruption-retailers-warn