Friday, September 17, 2021

Concerns in the UK
Retail dreads empty Christmas shelves

Tens of thousands of job openings, lack of raw materials, strained supply chains – British consumers could be forced to “make different choices” in the coming months, says an economist. Trade is likely to be unable to meet demand.

UK retailers face a bleak autumn with delivery issues amid issues with Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic. Many stores may have trouble filling their shelves before the upcoming holiday season, data from the national statistics agency shows. According to this, 6.5 percent of retail companies had trouble purchasing enough raw materials, goods and services in August.

Department stores were the most affected (18.2 percent), followed by textile companies with 11.1 percent. At the same time, retailers struggled with lower revenue: sales fell 0.9 percent in August compared to the previous month; One of the reasons for this was that the grocery retail sector lost because people visited restaurants and pubs more often.

Economists see poor Christmas sales in the UK retail sector. In addition to the labor shortage, there would be supply chain problems and demand would soon rise again, said Oliver Vernon-Harcourt of the audit and consulting firm Deloitte. Christmas will be affected by this “headwind” and consumers may have to “make other decisions” due to the shortage.

According to the statistics office, nine percent of retail companies were recently forced to change their supply chains or had to find alternative solutions.

The UK is grappling with the aftermath of Brexit, adding to the difficulties associated with the pandemic. There is a labor shortage in various sectors, including truck drivers, creating supply bottlenecks. The British government recently announced that it would postpone full border controls for planned EU products in the wake of Brexit from October to January 2022.