UK retailers face a bleak autumn with delivery problems

UK retailers face a bleak autumn with delivery problems amid Brexit and coronavirus issues. Many stores could have trouble filling their shelves ahead of the upcoming Christmas season, data from the national statistics agency shows. According to this, 6.5 percent of retail companies had problems procuring sufficient raw materials, goods and services in August. Department stores were hardest hit (18.2 percent), followed by textile companies with 11.1 percent. At the same time, retailers struggled with lower revenues: Sales fell 0.9 percent in August compared to the previous month - one of the reasons for this was that the grocery retail sector lost because people were visiting restaurants and pubs more often. Economists foresee bad Christmas sales in the UK retail sector. In addition to the shortage of labor, there would be problems in the supply chain and demand would soon rise again, said Oliver Vernon-Harcourt from the auditing and consulting firm Deloitte. Christmas will be affected by this "headwind" and consumers may have to "make other decisions" because of the scarcity. According to the statistics office, nine percent of retail companies were recently forced to change their supply chains or had to find alternative solutions. The UK is grappling with the aftermath of Brexit, adding to the difficulties associated with the pandemic. There is a labor shortage in several sectors, including truck drivers, leading to supply bottlenecks. The British government recently announced that it would postpone the full border controls for goods from the EU planned in the wake of Brexit from October to January 2022.