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By James Davey
LONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Britain could face a shortage of
alcohol this Christmas unless the government steps up its
efforts to address a shortage of heavy goods vehicle (HGV)
drivers, the wine and spirits industry warned on Wednesday.
The prospect of limited alcohol lines follows panic buying
at Britain's fuel pumps, soaring heating prices and shortages of
items ranging from consumer electronics to crisps and vegan
sausage rolls.
The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) said 49
businesses, including Moët Hennessy UK,
Laurent-Perrier UK, Pernod Ricard UK, C&C
Group and Matthew Clark, had put their names to a letter
to transport minister Grant Shapps calling on him to take urgent
action over HGV driver shortages and freight disruption.
"There is mounting concern amongst our membership that
unless urgent action is taken, we will fall deeper into delivery
chaos," said WSTA CEO Miles Beale.
"We are already seeing major delays on wine and spirit
delivery times which is pushing up costs and limiting the range
of products available to UK consumers."
The WSTA said its members had reported that importing
products was taking up to five times longer than it did a year
ago, with businesses that had previously been able to fulfil
orders in two to three days experiencing shipments taking 15
days to process.
It also noted that freight costs had increased by 7%, as
delivery firms have had to increase HGV drivers' wages to retain
them.
The WSTA wants Shapps to extend a temporary visa scheme for
HGV drivers from Feb. 28, 2022, to a minimum of one year, to
ease the burden on industry and allow for a sufficient increase
in domestic drivers.
It also wants his department to facilitate better routing of
freight from ports and smaller UK-based driver networks for
short-haul journeys.
The Department for Transport had no immediate comment.
(Reporting by James Davey
Editing by Mark Potter)
