Amidst claims that the UK is short of more than 100,000 lorry drivers, one Grimsby processor is claiming manpower shortages are endemic throughout the supply chain.
With petrol stations running out of fuel, the UK government has announced plans to introduce temporary visas for 5,000 fuel tanker and food lorry drivers to work in the UK in the run-up to Christmas.
But are the problems in the UK deeper than that?
"We've never seen a market like this," said logistics recruitment boss Jordan Francis, adding that his former European workers had opted to go to France or Germany, where they do not need visas. https://t.co/5YN6JM5srt
— Andy Bruce (@BruceReuters) September 27, 2021
Jack Coulbeck, Commercial Manager at UK-based salmon smoker and processor JCS Fish, which has an annual turnover of £10 million, said:
“We have faced intermittent issues making deliveries, namely those into cold stores who are struggling to move stock due to both the driver shortage and a staff shortage. The whole supply chain are reporting staff shortages which we are also facing.
“This has intermittently affected the availability of salmon where farms have struggled to harvest, luckily the driver crisis has not affected any deliveries inwards. These issues are nothing new and seem to have been really brought to light through both Brexit changes and the COVID pandemic.”
Read more: “We’re living through the worst driver shortage that we’ve seen in recent history.”
