Scots should not leave their Christmas shopping until the last minute this year because of delays getting goods into the country.
Shipping boss Peter Wilson has warned families to buy their presents and festive food in a “timely fashion” or risk finding some items missing on shelves.
The advice was issued as ships were being diverted from Felixstowe, Britain’s largest commercial port, with delays in getting containers unloaded partly due to a lack of HGV drivers to transport on the goods.
With consumers already facing shortages because of a lack of lorry drivers and seasonal workers for food processing fears of Christmas gaps have grown but Wilson, a director of the Cory Brothers shipping agency, stressed that supply chains would not “fail”.
He told the BBC: “What I would say to the consumer is be sensible, think ahead, plan appropriately and order your Christmas goods and the items that you need in a timely fashion to ensure that you have them.
“There is a potential nearer to Christmas to see some items maybe not being available on the shelves but this supply chain will not fail.”
He continued: “Christmas, the toys, the goods, will be the significant big selling point as we build up to Christmas, and I think that is where we are going to get pinch points.”
Shipping giant Maersk has said it is diverting vessels away from UK ports because of a build-up of cargo.
Container ports around the world are dealing with backlogs in containers stemming from the post Covid-19 lockdowns with docking issues in North America and continental Europe.
Lars Mikael Jensen, head of global ocean network at Maersk, said the HGV driver shortage, which is partly blamed on Brexit, has slowed down the time it takes for containers to be emptied and picked up.
But Conservative Party chairman Oliver Dowden urged people to buy normally for Christmas.
He said: “I’m confident that people will be able to get their toys for Christmas.”
He added that the situation at Felixstowe, which handles 36 per cent of the country’s containerised freight, was improving and that the issues facing the UK, such as a shortage of truckers and port congestion, were global.
When asked whether or not people should start to buy now for Christmas, he said: “I would say just buy as you do normally.”
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