Nisa hit hardest by UK driver shortage

Nisa deliveries are being hit hardest by the national driver shortages, according to new analysis by Better Retailing.

In a survey of 18 retailers from six symbol groups across the UK, three Nisa retailers received failed deliveries in the last month. In comparison, Londis, Premier and Best-one stores had no failed deliveries. A third of Spar and 66% of One Stop stores said they had a failed delivery.

All Nisa retailers surveyed added they had late deliveries, with two store owners reporting 10 delayed orders. No Premier, Spar or Best-one stores had a late delivery, while this applied to 33% of Londis and One Stop, and two thirds of Best-One stores.

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In terms of lowest availability, one Londis store reported the lowest of 30%, followed by Best-one and Spar (60%), Nisa (70%), One Stop (80%) and Premier (85%).

Ferhan Ashiq, of Day-Today Ashiqs in Prestonpans, told Better Retailing: “Last week or the week before, my sales were down by £400. The delivery that was supposed to arrive on the Saturday didn’t turn up until the Sunday. Nisa said it’s an industry-wide issue. If other wholesalers were having the same issues, fair enough. That’s not the case. They are managing it much better.”

Ashiq confirmed he knew of “at least another 15 retailers” experiencing the same issues.

Amrit Singh, of H and Jodie’s Nisa in Walsall, claimed “the frozen network has effectively collapsed”.

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Nisa sent out a notification on 19 July, seen by Better Retailing, informing retailers it was now “capping ambient and freeze orders on a daily basis”.

The availability of core products has also been affected, with suppliers Bernard Matthews, Allied Bakeries, Fage UK, Yoplait, Walkers, Ginsters, Pilgrim’s Pride, Greencore, Delamere Dairies, Friesland Campina, Walls, Co-op, Mattesons and Alpro all reporting supply issues.

A Nisa spokesperson said: “We have been working hard to mitigate the impact for our partners and, in fact, held out on capping orders until very recently to maintain our usual high availability. We were also one of the first symbol groups to move deliveries to smaller vehicles to minimise the impact of driver shortages.”