Food businesses say they can’t get labour or lorry drivers ‘for love nor money’
Businesses tell of a growing crisis as the impact of Covid and Brexit could leave our supermarket shelves empty again
“There is a labour shortage and it is having a huge impact on the hospitality industry as a whole – that’s of huge concern.”
West Sussex businesses have been having their say about a workforce crisis affecting the whole of the county.
There is a growing crisis of fresh food supplies rotting due to a shortage of lorry drivers and lack of labourers in the UK, business owners say.
Experts have warned that supermarket shelves could sit empty in the coming months.
Labour shortage
Oliver Rudland, from the Chichester Food & Drink company, said: “We are concerned about food waste on any level.
“There is a labour shortage and it is having a huge impact on the hospitality industry as a whole – that’s of huge concern.”
Matthew Higgs, the jointowner of new Chichester business Dell Quay Pick-your-own Strawberries, also runs a local marquee contractor company.
He said: “We cannot get labour. You cannot get labour for love nor money.
“Some Eastern Europeans are on furlough and don’t want to come here because of Covid-19. It’s a double nightmare.
“One of the reasons we chose pick your own [for the new business] is because of this employment situation.”
John Hall, from the West Sussex Growers’ Association, said there’s a lot of money being spent on advertising for local people to get into the industry but that ‘seems to be a big problem’. On top of this, there is a growing crisis of fresh food supplies rotting due to a shortage of lorry drivers in the UK, he said.
He added: “We are lobbying ministers and the government to allow more seasonal agriculture workers to come into the country.
“There used to be an allowance.
“There’s a lot of money being spent on advertising for local people to get into the industry but that seems to be a big problem.”
Chichester-based charity UK Harvest said the crisis is ‘forcing a dramatic increase on the amount of food unnecessarily wasted’.
A spokesperson added: “This has a detrimental impact on not only the environment but the livelihoods of so many.
“However, we at UK Harvest, are in a prime position to help avoid food going to waste through our food redistribution operation. We collect food across southern England, and work with over 350 charities to ensure perfectly edible food reaches those who need it most.”
Lorry driver shortage
Kevin Puleston, the owner of Gela Freight Services, appeared on Good Morning Britain last month from an industrial unit off the A27 Chichester bypass.
He said he has lost half of his workforce due to the impact of Brexit and the pandemic.
“We are just trying to find out how we are going to deal with it but we just don’t know at the minute,” he said. “We advertise [for jobs] but we get no response.
“Everyone I speak to on a daily basis say they are struggling to get drivers. We are all in the same boat and it’s only going to get worse at the moment.”
Fresh produce supplier Tim O’malley said: “It’s going to get worse before it gets better. September through to Christmas, we are going to have problems.
“Tens of thousands of drivers are needed.
“There will be a shortage on supermarket shelves in coming months.”
‘This was inevitable’
We asked readers what they thought of the situation and a number of current and former lorry drivers have commented on social media.
Paul Batty said: “This was inevitable when they brought in CPC testing.
“Many older drivers were not keen to do this and have retired early or moved on to something else.
“And it has been made stupidly hard and expensive for new drivers.”
Adrian Chadburn said ‘many would like to become HGV drivers but ‘costs are too great’.
He added: “Too many HGV drivers are forced to do too many hours at low wages.”
Martin Botting agreed and wrote: “The industry should start paying a suitable wage for the responsibility of driving these vehicles. I was earning £10 per hour in the nineties and wages for drivers are now around the same.”
Chris Mason said lorry driving is not an ‘attractive job’ for younger people, ‘especially factoring in the cost of a licence’.
He added: “Hauliers relied on cheap labour from the EU. This drove down the wages and conditions for UK drivers who left the industry in droves.”
Michael Epstein said the ‘temptation to cut wages’ and bringing in ‘cheap, foreign labour’ has now had an impact. Many former drivers left the trade and it is far too expensive for them to re-qualify and drive again,” he said. “The other issue must be with all the traffic restrictions, and lack of facilities. It can’t be a pleasant job to do.”
Tracey Barker took a different stance with her comment: “Perhaps if we treated lorry drivers better we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
What do you think? Let us know at letters@chiobserver. co.uk
There will be a shortage on supermarket shelves in coming months
TIM O’MALLEY
Fresh produce supplier