Families across the country have been warned this Christmas will be like no other after facing a ‘double whammy’ over delivery drivers.
The festive period is set to be heavily disrupted by the shortages and supply chain chaos which has been troubling the UK for several weeks now.
Bosses within hospitality and retail have issued warnings to the government that there are ‘no guarantees’ over supplies to bars and shops.
According to the CEO of UK Hospitality, Kate Nicholls, there is currently around 200,000 vacancies within the industry ahead of the Christmas rush.
The chief made the claim when she addressed a UK Government briefing at Westminster this week.
Reports have suggested there are also fears that supplies of Christmas presents could be stuck at ports due to a national shortage of HGV drivers
“I don’t think we can give the hospitality we would like to around Christmas because we would like to be operating at full strength and full capacity and not turning away business,” she told the Commons’ Environment, Food and Rural Affairs select committee.
“In our supply chain, we are getting around 80per cent fulfilment. So, 20 per cent of all products in all deliveries are not being delivered and we can’t really say what it is.
“Our supply chain cannot give us any guarantees at the moment about Christmas deliveries and that everything will be delivered at the right place, at the right time and at the right price.”
The trade body boss added that cost inflation is also weighing on the sector but that many postponed Christmas bookings from last year might result hold off price increases for customers until after the festive season, according to Mirror Online.
She added: “You are going to see a really intense squeeze on margins in the run up to Christmas and then the inevitable impact that will be felt by consumers, is there will be significant cost inflation coming through the supply chain and coming through to consumers, most likely after Christmas.
“But some businesses have said they are foreseeing three sets of price increases by April.”
Meanwhile, Tom Southall, policy director at the Cold Chain Federation, warned that warehouse staff shortages are a cause of concern ahead of Christmas.
“It is particularly in warehousing that we are concerned about at the moment,” he said.
“We are having reports from members that warehousing is becoming quite an acute issue in the run up to Christmas.
“It’s a bit more tricky to understand shortage rates there, but between 10 per cent and 20 per cent are some of the figures we have been quoted there.”
Speaking to the committee, Mr Southall also said he was not aware of any cold storage firms who have been contacted by the Government since pledged to fund cold storage for meat in recent weeks.It comes after UK butchers sent pig carcasses to the EU for butchering before being re-imported due to the labour shortages.
He said: “This time of year, cold storage is in demand and particularly last year was very full, as you can imagine with Christmas produce.
“We are concerned about where than 15,000 tons of pork meat is going to go.
“We’ve offered support, we have the support of our members but as it stands, we have no details of that scheme and how it will roll out.”
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