I never thought my restaurant business would mean I would become a long-distance driver

Scottish restaurant owners are driving to Dover for stock because of the shortage of lorry drivers to deliver it.

One of the country’s best-known Italian eaterie bosses is preparing for a round trip of almost 1,000 miles to collect salami, hams and preserves just off the ferry and now waiting in warehouses near the channel port.

Michele Arrighi, 36, an owner of the Glasgow-based Sarti chain, said: “Our wholesalers can’t give us a guarantee of when they will deliver because of the shortage of haulage drivers so I am driving down to Dover to load our van myself. If I don’t, then we will run short of the main staples of Italian produce which bring in our customers.

“Previously, we would order from our suppliers in Italy and have delivery within a week. No one could have guessed that it would ever be any different.

“The suppliers say there’s no problem getting it to Dover from Italy in a day or so but there’s no delivery guarantee time after that.”

Chef Michele adds: “Now I take two days out of a working week every few weeks to drive the 1,000-mile round trip to the south coast of England to a wholesaler not far from the port.

“I then queue for four to five hours with other restaurant owners from all over the UK for a slot at the wholesalers. I then load the van and head somewhere north again for an overnight stop and rest.

“The next morning it’s the long trip back up the motorway to Scotland before my staff and I unload the food into our fridges.”

The long-distance treks come as the Scottish restaurant business is working to recover after 18 months of a series of lockdowns through Covid.

“Like everyone else, we took a financial hit and we need to keep the restaurant working to make that up. Every restaurant is in the same position. Brexit has made us short of haulage drivers for deliveries and also staff from EU countries,” he said.

Besides hams and salamis and preserves, the restaurant delivers hampers of Italian food in the run up to Christmas.

“I am also picking those up from wholesalers because orders are coming in and we need to meet them,” he said.

“We have put our hearts and souls into making our restaurants successful but I never thought it would involve becoming a long-distance driver.”

The haulage trip to Dover comes as the UK is suffering an acute shortage of lorry drivers.

UK Hospitality Scotland, which represents the industry and its suppliers, says it is aware that restaurant owners are driving to wholesalers and ports to collect goods and cites the crippling shortage of haulage drivers as a prime reason.

Leon Thompson, its executive director Scotland, said: “We are aware that stock is being collected now by restaurant and hospitality business owners and the drive to Dover is quite a distance.

“Remember, restaurants are coming out of 18 months of closure and restricted business so they are under great pressure to recover.

“Driving long distances for stock is partly caused by Brexit because many drivers went back to their home countries or elsewhere to work. The paperwork and procedure to stay in the UK was too expensive and protracted both for worker and employee.

“We now have an acute labour shortage of drivers and other key staff.

“This shortage of EU workers who previously filled other key positions in hospitality adds to the problems business now face.”