Post-Brexit & Post-Pandemic Transportations Issues

 We have been very fortunate to have been able to continue to operate very smoothly and with minimal impact during the pandemic closures and restrictions, and as we start to relax into a world which seemingly resembles a pre-pandemic one, we also face some realities of the impact the pandemic has left as well as Brexit.

We recently wrote about what we envisage the firewood market is likely to do this season, and like most things, timber prices are rising which is going to impact the prices we are selling our firewood for. With new Ready to Burn legislation in place, we also see a higher demand for our products which have been Ready to Burn approved from the very beginning. You can read more about the firewood market predictions here: https://www.certainlywood.co.uk/blogs/news/the-firewood-market-what-s-happening

One of the major industries affected by Brexit and the pandemic has been the transport industry. While many people successfully applied for the settlement status and remained in the UK, a large amount of people returned to their native countries after Brexit, leaving a shortage of workers in many industries. According to the recent British Chamber of Commerce Briefing Paper, severe driver shortages are jeopardising deliveries of goods and foodstuffs into the UK.

We have also felt the effects of this at Certainly Wood as we seem to be receiving increasing calls of failed deliveries by the transport company who, by no fault of their own, are simply struggling to successfully deliver all the goods they are asked to deliver. The impact of driver shortages, increased demand and test, track and trace has often meant that even with very good planning, some deliveries have failed. The pressure on the delivery depots in certain areas has been so high that in some cases they simply did not even manage to communicate to us about the failed deliveries, which has left customers frustrated whilst they waited for their delivery to arrive.

Our team are working very closely with the transport company to make sure we communicate any issues about the deliveries of your orders as soon as possible; however, we want to ask for your patience while we try and manoeuvre through these issues which are affecting the whole country. If you do not receive your delivery on your selected day, please let us know as soon as possible so that we may escalate the issue as quickly as possible.

Your Certainly Wood team

21/08/2021