Supply Chain Crisis: The man who could help ‘save’ Christmas
As the supply chain crisis continues across the world, the UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson has drafted in help in the form of a new advisor, Sir David Lewis, who is hoped will be the man to ‘save’ Christmas.
The former Tesco chief executive will advise the government on how to overcome the supply chain crisis that has led to petrol, food and other shortages.
Just this week, the Office for National Statistics found one in six UK adults said they had been unable to buy essential foods in the last fortnight.
The UK’s recent fuel crisis was caused in part by a shortage of lorry drivers, which led to consumers to panic buy at fuel stations across the UK. And it looks likely that panic buying at the supermarket will soon follow due to the shortages of HGV drivers and specialised workers.
The government said businesses had faced a range of challenges over recent months as they recovered from the coronavirus pandemic which has affected supply chains across Europe and around the world.
Mr Johnson said: "There are currently global supply issues which we are working with industry to mitigate, and Dave brings a wealth of experience which will help us continue to protect our businesses and supply chains."
A statement said this would include "both identifying the causes of current blockages and pre-empting potential future ones, and advising on resolutions either through direct government action or through industry with government support".
Shortages of workers in food processing, hospitality and the care sector will only add to the crisis, after some overseas workers returned home due to Brexit and the pandemic and chose not to return to the UK.
Retailers have also said they face a struggle to ensure supplies are in place for the all-important Christmas trading period.
Alongside the troubles in the UK, a global shortage of computer chips and rising shipping costs for products from China is adding to the bottleneck and extra costs.
As we reported last week, power blackouts in more than 10 provinces across the mainland of China have forced global suppliers to suspend operations at some of their factories.
A reliable source explained to us that this has the potential to extend into next March 2022 and serves to exacerbate the ongoing situation already caused by the shipping crisis, creating a perfect storm in the already under pressure supply chain.
Meanwhile, hundreds of container ships are still queuing for access to overrun ports in the US and China, whilst port closures caused by Covid-19 outbreaks have further exacerbated the problem.
If you would like any advice about orders you have in place with TyTek, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our team today.
Please be aware: The Chinese New Year Holiday will be from Jan 31 to Feb 6 2022. Due to tougher conditions in both ocean and air shipping, it will be more difficult to secure bookings.
Besides the scarcity of containers and the rising shipping cost, we would strongly encourage you to place orders before Oct 15 2021 to secure shipping before CNY as many suppliers tell us that they will not be shipping between Jan 20 and Feb 16 2022.
Source: BBC News