High street shops, restaurant and pubs including the likes of Greggs, Toby Carvey and Harvester are all being forced to close venues down due to staff shortages caused by the pingdemic.
Record numbers of works are being forced to isolate after being pinged by the NHS Covid app.
With hundreds of thousands of workers stopped for going to work, many household names are struggling to keep going.
Greggs has been forced to shut a number of stores, but none of these on a long-term basis, due to lack of staff.
Despite shuffling staff around stores to make up for shortages, a handful of stores were forced to shut yesterday.
The owner of pubs including Harvester, Toby Carvery and O’Neil’s Mitchells & Butlers, said it had to close forty venues yesterday across its brands due to staff being pinged.
A spokesperson said: “We have been forced to temporarily close a number of our venues because members of staff have been pinged by NHS Test and Trace and instructed to self-isolate.
“This pingdemic is causing a significant disruption for our business and our teams and we would urge the Government to allow team members who are double jabbed and have regular tests to continue to work, ahead of the proposed 16th August date.”
On social media, Harvester said a branch in Clifton Moor, York was forced to close as well as Toby Carvery shutting its Park Place branch in London.
Neither gave specific reasons why.
Wetherspoons also warned it had a couple of hundred staff off but so far hasn’t had to close pubs. Instead it has reduced some opening hours during one of the hottest weeks of the year so far.
Greene King has previously reported struggling with staff shortages and shut 33 pubs over the last week, and Young’s had 350 staff isolating.
It’s not just pubs and restaurants, with nightclubs suffering as well.
Sacha Lord, Night Time Economy Adviser for Greater Manchester, said venues are having to close "despite those same employees testing negative continuously across the ten day quarantine period".
A spokesperson for the Federation of Wholesale Distributers said: "COVID cases and isolation notifications will rise in the coming weeks. This will mean many distribution staff being pinged and advised not to come to work, leading to challenges in delivering food to independent shops, pubs, restaurants, hotels, and hospitals, care homes and prisons and the military.
They added that this could mean hospitality businesses will not be able to meet pent up demand and convenience stores will not receive enough food to meet customer demand.
"This will be felt in remote areas where the cost of delivering products is so much higher," they added.
Ranjit Singh Boparan, of the 2 Sisters Food Group, which is one of the largest food producers in the UK, warned they are at a "crisis point" as the pingdemic hits supplies of milk and poultry.
Boparan told the Daily Mail that he predicts the "most serious food shortages that this country has seen in over 75 years".
Meanwhile, Phil Langslow, trading director at Cheshire-based County Milk Products told the newspaper that about half their deliveries have been delayed.
"We had a long standing lorry driver shortage that’s been exacerbated by covid. Service providers have said they cannot cope," he said.'
"Roughly half of deliveries expected to be done are not and we’re scrambling to get this done. It renders some business unviable."
Boss of the Fresh Produce Consortium, Nigel Jenny, said fresh produce is more susceptible to the disruption caused by the pingdemic.
"Given the nature of fresh produce, it’s highly perishable, so there’s a very short supply chain susceptible to disruption and that can have an impact quickly."
"There’s a shortfall of staff of between 10% and 25% across the fresh produce industry, ranging from harvesting crops to production lines where goods are packaged."
Supermarkets are working to replenish stock quickly and are urging shoppers not to panic buy after alarming photos showed empty shelves.
Iceland announced it will be recruiting 2,000 temporary staff to help with the shortages while the Co-op announced it will take on 3,000 extra workers.
Major chains forced to close branches during pingdemic
- Greggs
- Toby Carvery
- Harvester
- O'Neill's
- Greene King
