Economists feel shortages could jeopardise recovery from pandemic
The UK’s supply chain crisis is getting worse as each day goes by, with goods from retail stores running low and supermarkets having difficulties stocking their shelves.
Due to worldwide supply chain disruptions as a result of the pandemic and worker shortages, in addition to Brexit related issues, major retailers’ stock levels are at their lowest levels since the 80s.
This is a warning that came from the CBI yesterday.
These shortages could jeopardise the UK’s recovery from the pandemic, according to economists.
Andrew Sentance, a former member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, said:
“It’s quite striking, I don’t think we can dismiss this as a flash in the pan. Now that lockdown has been eased, we’re seeing a truer reflection of the impact of Brexit and issues building up before the pandemic.”
“We could see this persisting for longer than people expect. Skills shortages could go on for a few years, the impact of Brexit on our ability to attract workers from the EU is not going to go away quickly and the process of training was quite significantly disrupted by the pandemic, when people were not working and furloughed.”
UK Investor Magazine reported on Tuesday that McDonald’s is running out of milkshakes in all of its 1,250 restaurants across the UK as the fast-food company feels the impact of supply chain issues.
In addition to milkshakes, McDonalds has also run out of bottled drinks at a number of its locations.
“Like most retailers, we are currently experiencing some supply chain issues, impacting the availability of a small number of products,” the company said.
“Bottled drinks and milkshakes are temporarily unavailable in restaurants across England, Scotland and Wales.”
