Crisis at Christmas might be overplayed, but buy early to be sure

IT was Ebenezer Scrooge who put the mockers on Christmas in Charles Dickens’ novel, A Christmas Carol. And it was Dr Seuss who invented the Grinch, who stole Christmas, by pilfering the gifts and the decorations.

But if you believe the doomsters and the gloomsters – as Boris Johnson would probably put it – neither have anything on the current combination of haulier shortages, delivery delays and a staffing crisis which are threatening Britain’s festive season.

There are apparently 73 shopping days to Christmas. From some of the reports coming from retailers and the transport industry we may need every single one of them to track down, secure and buy all we think we need for a happy family Christmas.

Toys may be in short supply and prices rising, one Devon toy shopowner warns today’s Western Morning News while a butcher says he will do all he can to ensure every customer has a turkey, but it is going to be challenging this year. The message seems to be if you really want to be sure of all your usual Christmas treats, snap them up early or at least get your orders in.

There is always a suspicion, when a retailer tells you that his goods are selling like hot cakes, to think he is just trying to lure you into making a hasty purchase. But there is good evidence from plenty of sources that this is no sales pitch.

Congestion at the major container ports, particularly Felixstowe, caused by too few lorry drivers to move the goods on, means some shipping lines are diverting to other ports in Europe to offload. The goods – many from Asia – will eventually arrive in Britain having been transferred to smaller vessels and landed at smaller UK ports. But it all adds time and money to the process – and the consumer is likely to have to pay.

Different problems are affecting the poultry industry, where too few processers are available to cope with demand. Attempts to persuade the foreign workers to return, issuing short-term visas, might help a little. But already supermarket customers are getting their orders in early and some have already bagged a bird for the freezer, ready for the big day.

Local butchers and farms that supply the public direct are confident they can meet demand, but have already seen a big jump in early orders. At Scobbiscombe Farm in South Devon they have seen a 300% jump in the number of orders they would normally expect at this time of the year.

They can meet them, thanks to a tried and tested system of bringing in family, friends and local turkey pluckers to get the birds ready for the table, but those who leave their orders too late may be disappointed.

With the COP26 climate change conference just days away some might see this ‘crisis’ as an opportunity for everyone to dial back on their Christmas spending, reduce the imports and have a low key, local Christmas.

But meeting consumer needs is something traders and those in the supply chain move heaven and earth to achieve. If Scrooge and the Grinch thought this time their dreams of a cancelled Christmas had come true, they may need to think again.