Part 2 in a 3 part thought leadership series, where Channel looks at the areas of difficulties that Britain’s SMEs continue to face: increased costs, labour shortages, and logistics.
The rush to reopen and departure of overseas workers have caused problems in sectors including transport, hospitality, and construction.
Official figures show that 1.5 million workers are still furloughed with pandemic restrictions still limiting a full return to work. Business leaders have warned that a lack of overseas workers after lockdown would put a “handbrake on the recovery”, with as many as 1.3 million estimated to have left the UK since late 2019 as many returned to their country of birth to see through the pandemic at home.
