London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Jul 30, 2025

Food firm in 'drastic' action amid driver shortage

Food firm in 'drastic' action amid driver shortage

A company which supplies food to care homes and restaurants says it is taking "drastic action" to try to get round the shortage of UK lorry drivers.

The boss of Country Range said the group was buying smaller vans in the face of "significant" problems caused by a lack of qualified HGV drivers.

Managing director Coral Rose said the issue was "going to get worse" as schools and offices return to normal.

Industry warnings about the impact of driver shortages have been increasing.

On Wednesday, both Tesco and Iceland said there could be some shortages on the shelves in the run up to the key Christmas trading period.

A combination of Covid, Brexit and other factors has meant there are not enough drivers to meet demand.

The Road Haulage Association estimates there is now a shortage of more than 100,000 drivers in the UK, out of a pre-pandemic total of about 600,000.

That number included tens of thousands of drivers from EU member states who were living and working in the UK. Even before Covid, the estimated shortage was about 60,000 drivers.

'Increased pressure'


Country Range is a group of 12 wholesalers supplying food and non-food items to schools, care homes, hotels, restaurants and small shops.

Ms Rose said the shortage of drivers had affected both the supply of products from manufacturers to its warehouses and also from its warehouses to its customers.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Ms Rose said Country Range was "taking drastic action such as buying smaller delivery vehicles to make sure that we don't have to have people with specific HGV licences to drive them".

There was "going to be increased pressure as schools reopen, people continue to holiday in the UK, people return back to their offices, so staff feeding may reopen again, so the issue is going to get worse and we would like government intervention", she added.

One short-term fix the government could take would be to a temporary visa scheme "to encourage EU workers to come back", she said.

But she wants the government to give support for people with training and apprenticeships in the longer term "because this is not a quick fix, it's a long-term issue".

Ms Rose also said: "There's lot of drivers who are able to drive but can't go on the road at the moment because they couldn't take their tests or refresher course and training through the last year because of Covid, so there's potential to release a lot more drivers. There could be some increased resource in that area as well and that would help."


On Wednesday, the government said there was a "highly resilient" food supply chain and it was taking measures to tackle the driver shortage.

Labour's shadow minister for business and consumers, Seema Malhotra, said: "The chaos hitting supply chains is of the Conservatives' making. Their failure to keep their promise to cut red tape for businesses, which are struggling with more paperwork and higher costs, combined with worker shortages, has created a perfect storm."

What have the supermarkets said?


*   Sainsbury's said "availability in some product categories may vary but alternatives are available and stores continue to receive deliveries daily".

*   Morrisons said it was working with suppliers to minimise shortages. It said it had "contingency plans around Brexit in place for a number of years". It added it was "less concerned" about some fresh foods because it produced them itself. However, it said the "challenges" had been exacerbated by summer holidays meaning fewer drivers were available. "But there is no short-term fix for the haulage industry with drivers and vacancies increasing nationally."

*   Waitrose said it had been "working through the same challenges that all supermarkets are facing right now". It added it was focussing on "maintaining the best possible range of products".

*   Iceland Foods, said: "We are currently facing a massive shortage of HGV drivers in the UK which is impacting the food supply chain on a daily basis. We... have already seen deliveries to our stores cancelled for the first time since the pandemic began, and this is solely due to the HGV driver shortage."

*   The Co-op said: "Like many retailers, we are impacted by some patchy disruption to our deliveries, logistics and store operations but we are working closely with our suppliers to get re-stocked quickly."

*   Tesco said "there may be some shortages", but people should not "over-dramatise" and panic-buy. "It's very easy to make a drama out of a modest crisis."

The motor industry has already reported that van sales have hit near record levels in 2021 as a result of a boom in home deliveries and the economy reopening.

Ms Rose admitted that a firm such as Country Range buying more small delivery vans would increase the number of vehicles on the roads. "More vehicles and more staff required to do that, it's not an ideal scenario but it's something that we're trying to do to continue to supply our customers."

She said steps were needed in order to encourage people to take up driving jobs. "We need to make this an attractive profession and a recognised profession, not just with food service but within the whole of the UK.

"The average age of the drivers is over 55 - there isn't a lot of new blood coming into the industry because it takes time and money to train and people don't necessarily have that."

'A perfect storm'


Staff shortages in the food industry are extending beyond drivers.

Bolton-based Greenhalgh's Craft Bakery has a chain of shops in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, and delivers wholesale nationally.

Six members of the firm's management team have been taking turns to do shifts driving the delivery vans.

Boss David Smart told BBC Radio 5 Live: "It's a bit of a perfect storm really. We are short of drivers but it isn't just drivers, we're actually short of quite a few people throughout the business from bakers to bakery operatives to shop colleagues to drivers to office staff.

"It's the August bank holiday, everybody wants to go everywhere and because we're a food service industry we try to supply all those areas. We're extremely busy. However, we are very, very busy with too few hands."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Former Judge Charged After Drunk Driving Crash Kills Comedian in Brazil
Jeff Bezos hasn’t paid a dollar in taxes for decades. He makes billions and pays $0 in taxes, LEGALLY
China Increases Use of Exit Bans Amid Rising U.S. Tensions
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Procter & Gamble to Raise U.S. Prices to Offset One‑Billion‑Dollar Tariff Cost
House Republicans Move to Defund OECD Over Global Tax Dispute
Botswana Seeks Controlling Stake in De Beers as Anglo American Prepares Exit
Trump Administration Proposes Repeal of Obama‑Era Endangerment Finding, Dismantling Regulatory Basis for CO₂ Emissions Limits
France Opens Criminal Investigation into X Over Algorithm Manipulation Allegations
A family has been arrested in the UK for displaying the British flag
Mel Gibson refuses to work with Robert De Niro, saying, "Keep that woke clown away from me."
Trump Steamrolls EU in Landmark Trade Win: US–EU Trade Deal Imposes 15% Tariff on European Imports
ChatGPT CEO Sam Altman says people share personal info with ChatGPT but don’t know chats can be used as court evidence in legal cases.
The British propaganda channel BBC News lies again.
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
×