According to foreign media reports, the British retail industry is generally facing supply chain tension. Greggs, a British bakery chain, said yesterday that it is being adversely affected by tightening supply chains. It is the latest UK company to announce problems with its supply chain.

"Unfortunately, like other companies, we have experienced temporary difficulties in the supply chain for certain ingredients, sometimes resulting in stores not being able to maintain a full line of supplies," a Greggs spokesman said in a statement, according to Reuters.

Greggs joins a number of other UK retailers struggling to overcome supply chain bottlenecks caused by shortages of lorry drivers and food processing staff. Nando's, the chicken food restaurant chain, had to close about 40 stores in the UK last week because of staff shortages. McDonald's said On Monday it had temporarily removed milkshakes and bottled drinks from menus in all of its UK restaurants. KFC also said it was grappling with inventory issues in some categories due to supply disruptions in recent weeks.

Supply chain problems are not confined to the UK, Reuters reports. Other parts of Europe and the US are also facing shortages of drivers.

However, industry insiders say the shortage of drivers is particularly acute in the UK because of new rules and quarantine measures imposed after Brexit. An unprecedented shortage of workers and raw materials is holding back Britain's economic recovery, a survey suggests.

HSBC analyst Willem Zelles said cost pressures would increase as shortages of goods and personnel typically lead to increased corporate spending. Purchasing managers' indices for both manufacturing and services fell in July and August, but remained above the 50-point mark separating expansion from contraction, indicating a sustained recovery. UK consumer demand and retail Labour market will continue to face challenges.

According to CNBC, a number of industry groups in the UK are urging the government to strengthen its response to supply chain problems. The Confederation of British Industry warned Thursday that retail inventories had fallen to a record low in August. The UK Poultry Council last week accused the government of ignoring Labour shortages in the sector, particularly in livestock and processing, as 60% of poultry workers in the UK come from EU countries, many of whom have returned home as a result of Brexit and the pandemic. A joint letter from the British Retail Consortium and logistics industry group Logistics UK called on the government to take further steps to deal with a shortage of around 90,000 drivers, such as reviewing plans to stop licensing truckers from the EU.