As gaps continue to appear on supermarkets shelves and restaurants take unavailable items off menus, Britain’s supply chains appear to be at the centre of a perfect storm of pandemic disruption coupled with post-Brexit labour shortages.

Britain needs 100,000 more drivers if it is to meet demand, according to the UK's Road Haulage Association (RHA). The signs are already there: sporadic gaps on supermarket shelves, pubs running low on beer, McDonald's suspending milkshakes.

Britain's leading employers are pushing the government to urgently increase funding to retrain workers and allow Europeans back into key sectors as supply chains buckle under the weight of COVID-19 and Brexit.

McDonald’s says it has pulled milkshakes from the menu in all 1,250 of its British restaurants because of supply problems stemming from a shortage of truck drivers