A senior supermarket chain owner warned that the British government must allow retailers to recruit HGV drivers from abroad to avoid a supply chain crisis that could ruin Christmas.
Richard Walker, Managing Director of Iceland said, Britain faces a shortage of 100,000 HGV drivers This has resulted in 30 to 40 deliveries being cancelled every day, and will overturn the plan to build Christmas inventory starting next month.
“Christmas is coming soon. In the retail industry, we really started to stock up in September. This is a very important time of the year,” he told BBC Radio 4’s “Today” program.
“From now until Christmas, we have a lot of goods to transport, and a strong supply chain is vital to everyone. The reason for the alarm now is that we have cancelled a Christmas at the last minute, and I also hate this problem. .”
He said that the shortage of HGV drivers has caused the cancellation of fast food orders such as bread in about 100 Icelandic stores, and the delivery of soft drinks has fallen by 50%.
This also led to The chaos of the entire British fast food industry After McDonald’s removed milkshakes from the menu, Nando’s was forced to Close about 50 restaurants Because of the shortage of chicken.
Walker stated that the shortage of truck drivers is not an “inevitable consequence” of EU immigration rules after Brexit, but a “self-consciousness” caused by “the government’s failure to realize the importance of HGV drivers and the work they do for us.” harm” .
He said: “The simple solution is to add HGV truck drivers to the list of necessary and skilled workers, just like ballet dancers and other occupations. During the pandemic, these HGV drivers have been on the road for 18 months. For the performance, we did not regard them as a crime as skilled workers.”
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Walker said it takes four to six weeks to recruit foreign drivers, so even if the government immediately adds them to the list of skilled workers, the solution to the UK supply chain crisis “will not happen overnight.”
Post-Brexit EU immigration rules, Covid-19 restrictions and self-isolation guidelines have combined to cause a shortage of truck drivers.
However, critics of Britain’s largest food retailer have also called for higher wages and working conditions to help attract local workers.
Walker said: “We are increasing the wage rate in our warehouse, and I think the market will correct itself. The problem with bringing in British workers is that it takes six months. We have to find these people, train them, and they need to get level 1. license.”
The Icelandic boss also refuted “plastering” solutions, including “introducing the army, longer time, and larger trucks”, which would not be able to solve the systemic problems faced by the British supply chain.
“We need to recruit more people domestically, but it will take time. At the same time, let us get [foreign drivers] On the list of skilled workers, so that we can bring in more drivers and get our supply chain up and running,” he said.
