Will the British face a shortage of champagne at Christmas? Britain’s wine and spirits sector is concerned about the shortage of truck drivers affecting the country, calling on the government to take action to avoid empty shelves during the holidays.
The government must “take urgent action,” the WSTA said in a press release today, noting that “rising costs and supply chain chaos are delaying deliveries of wine and spirits” and imports need it. at the moment “up to five times as much as a year ago”.
In the letter, signed by 49 companies in the industry, including the local branches of Moët Hennessy and Pernod Ricard, the wine and spirits association called on Transport Minister Grand Saps to act “before Christmas”.
Orders, which used to be shipped in two or three days, are “now experiencing 15-day processing delays” and carrier costs “have risen by about 7%”, the union said. they see their wages increase.
Britain is facing a crisis in the supply chains, fueled mainly by a shortage of truck drivers. The problem is not concentrated in the country, as it was caused by the recovery of global activity, but there it has been exacerbated by Brexit, which complicates the return of European workers.
The government has already announced measures to try to address the shortage of truck drivers, such as speeding up driver training or temporarily introducing work visas for the industry.
But the government needs to go one step further “to ensure that British companies do not operate with one hand tied during the holidays and beyond,” Miles Bale, WSTA’s chief executive, said in a statement.
The union specifically asks the Secretary of Transport to extend the temporary entry visa program, which is expected to expire on February 28, or even to facilitate the transport of goods from the British ports, which are currently saturated.
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