Supermarket food distributor goes BUST, leaving 1,000 workers jobless amid HGV driver chaos

A private equity-backed haulage firm specializing in cold food delivery asda And Sainsbury’s has collapsed, raising concerns about gaps in shelves as Britain heads into a ‘winter of discontent’.

EVCL Chill, a subsidiary of EV Cargo, filed for administration, adding to speculation that the two supermarkets would need to take over the business to protect deliveries.

The company had several major contracts for supermarkets and employed approximately 1,000 employees in warehousing and HGV driving roles.

It comes amid concerns that Britain will face severe food shortages this winter due to a shortage of lorry drivers and the ongoing energy crisis.

Several of Britain’s biggest retailers warned ministers on Friday that the government has 10 days to save Christmas from a ‘significant disruption’ due to a shortage of HGV drivers.

Among the issues threatening discontent in winter are:

• Natural gas shortages increased gas bills for millions of Britons, with dozens of smaller energy firms likely to close;
• However, ministers say that ‘there is no question of switching off the lights, people are not able to heat their homes. There would be no three-day work week, or a return to the 1970s;
• The shortage of natural gas caused the closure of fertilizer plants, which produce CO2 used in the fizzy drinks and meat industries;
• The government has since agreed a deal with fertilizer firms to restart a factory to maintain CO2 production;
• A lorry driver shortage that is crippling the UK transport industry, leaving shelves empty and slow delivery times;
• Owners say this could affect both Christmas dinner and the number of toys on the shelves;
• Now the owners of major fuel firms have warned they will have to start closing petrol stations because it doesn’t have enough lorry drivers to effectively deliver it to all petrol stations;
• It comes as the Bank of England warned yesterday that rising household energy bills would raise the cost of living by more than 4 percent this winter – the highest rate of growth for a decade.

EVCL Chill was responsible for eating and drinking 10,000 pallets a day at two retailers, which according to The Grocer had been in talks with administrators PwC for several weeks to protect a significant proportion of their cold operations.

It comes amid concerns that Britain will face a ‘winter of discontent’, characterized by a shortage of lorry drivers and severe food shortages due to the ongoing energy crisis.

EVCL Chill operated depots in Penrith, Rochdale, Crick, Alfreton, Daventry and Bristol, and employed approximately 1,000 workers serving the country’s many Sainsbury’s and Asda supermarkets.

EVCL Chill was responsible for eating and drinking 10,000 pallets a day at two retailers, which according to The Grocer had been in talks with administrators PwC for several weeks to secure a significant proportion of their chill operations.

Unite Union, which has more than 500 members in the company, is trying to ensure that contract workers directly employed by Asda and Sainsbury’s will be transferred to work directly for supermarkets as part of a rescue package.

It is owned by venture capitalists EmergeVest, who, as a separate company, would avoid incurring the cost of the collapse, such as redundancy payments.

Unite National Officer Matt Draper said: ‘The collapse of the EVCL chill at a time when there is a huge demand for lorry drivers in particular, raises questions about the role and involvement of venture capitalists in the UK industry.

Food supply chains have been placed under acute stress in recent weeks due to a shortage of around 100,000 HGV drivers – resulting in empty shelves in many UK supermarkets. Pictured: Fruit crunch at a Sainsbury’s store in London today

Sainsbury’s says it is taking measures to secure deliveries after EVCL chill collapse

‘There is something fundamentally wrong with a system that allows the wealthy owners of a company to avoid paying for its collapse while the taxpayer has to pick up the pieces.’

Sainsbury’s said it was taking measures to have a safe delivery.

A spokesperson said: ‘We are in close touch with EVCL Chill Ltd. We have continuity plans in place to ensure that operations continue to run smoothly and we are confident that customers will be able to buy what they need when they shop with us.

The news comes just hours after several of Britain’s biggest retailers warned ministers they had only 10 days to avoid Christmas from a ‘significant disruption’ due to a shortage of HGV drivers.

The British Retail Consortium said a disruption to the festive period would be ‘inevitable’ unless an estimated 90,000 driver shortage is addressed, while lawmakers have said the military will need a short-term fix amid dire warnings about damage. can be used as There could be a shortage in the coming weeks unless immediate action is taken.

Ministers have reportedly discussed contingency plans to bring in the army to take petrol tankers to the police station premises, but they are believed to be implemented only as a last resort.

Agriculture Secretary George Eustice has indicated that the government is preparing to expand the Seasonal Farm Workers Scheme (SAWS) this year to help tackle the UK’s HGV crisis.

Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps suggested that adding HGV drivers to the skilled worker list for immigration purposes would not solve the problem, although he insisted they were not ruled out.