The retail phenomenon of 2021 is not a new fashion craze, electronic gadget or children’s toy. The most discussed items in today’s shops are “empty shelves”. And as the problems have grown, the arguments have raged: was it Brexit? Is it the pandemic? Is it a UK problem or a worldwide issue?
In fact, though both the pandemic and the new restrictions on EU trade and free movement have contributed to shortages on the shelves and to companies cutting their production despite demand, the roots of this market failure predate both by decades.
Worse, the crisis of labour across the UK – affecting businesses from haulage to food, farming, retail and construction – is now so deep that better wages alone will not dig us out of it.
To understand the underlying causes, take a look at the informal lorry parks just off our motorway network, or the laybys along the main roads to England’s ports. I visited one such HGV parking place just off the M25 last year to interview hauliers making deliveries for major transnational retail and e-commerce businesses. The “park” was a rough…
