Skip to content
Search
AI Powered
Latest Stories

Poultry industry facing labour shortage as 'perfect storm' hit chicken factories

Poultry industry facing labour shortage as 'perfect storm' hit chicken factories
Representative iStock image
Getty Images/iStockphoto

The British poultry industry has lost more than 15 per cent of its staff to Brexit and immigration laws, British Poultry Council said today (18), as the industry continues to face “perfect storm” comprising labour shortage, higher wages, higher energy cost, higher cost of animal feed and supply chain crises.

Already a driver shortage has led to a lack of fuel at gas stations and gaps on supermarket shelves, while chicken restaurant chain Nandos ran out of chicken.


As chicken farms thriving on lesser labours, there have been reports of sales, marketing and finance staff of chicken factories being forced “to don the long white coats and hairnets that are needed on the processing line”.

The sudden rise in wages and the drop in output also come on top of spikes in the cost of animal feed, energy and fuel, carbon dioxide, cardboard and plastic packaging, claimed a farm owner who said that he now has no option than to raise prices.

"We've just had to say to our customers, sorry, the price is going up," Reuter quoted Driffield-based Nigel Upson. "We're losing money, big style."

While UK prime minister Boris Johnson says businesses need to cut their addiction to cheap foreign labour now, invest in technology and offer well-paid jobs to some of the 1.5 million unemployed people in Britain, Upson pointed out that with almost equal high numbers of vacancies in the country, people can be choosy.

"Working in a chicken factory isn't everybody's idea of a career," he said.

While all major economies have been hit by supply chain problems and labour shortage after the pandemic, Britain's tough new immigration rules have made it harder to recover, businesses say.

Although 5,500 foreign poultry workers will be allowed to work in Britain before Christmas, and emergency visas will be given to 800 foreign butchers to avoid a mass pig cull sparked by a shortage in abattoirs, the industry says it needs more.

The National Farmers' Union and other food bodies said in a recent report that parts of the UK's food and drink supply chain were "precariously close to market failure", limiting the ability to invest in automation.

The report comes close in heels after "Chicken King" Ranjit Singh Boparan, founder of the UK's biggest producer 2 Sisters, said that it is time to “reset” and food prices in the UK must rise.

"Food is too cheap," Boparan said. "In relative terms, chicken today is cheaper to buy than it was 20 years ago. How can it be right that a whole chicken costs less than a pint of beer?"

More for you

A woman enters the Selfridges department store

A woman enters the Selfridges department store on December 13, 2024 in London, England

Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images

Retail faces mixed fortunes in 2025 amid cost pressures, AI opportunities, and high street revival


The UK retail sector is bracing for a challenging but opportunity-filled 2025, according to Jacqui Baker, head of retail at RSM UK. While the industry grapples with rising costs and heightened crime, advancements in artificial intelligence and a revival of the high street offer potential pathways to growth, she said.

Keep ReadingShow less
unsafe soft drinks seized in Southend

Unsafe soft drinks seized in Southend

Photo: Southend-on-Sea City Council

1,100 unsafe soft drinks seized in Southend safety crackdown

Southend-on-Sea City Council officials have secured food condemnation orders from Chelmsford Magistrates Court, resulting in the seizure and destruction of 1,100 unauthorised soft drinks.

The condemned drinks, including Mountain Dew, 7-UP, Mirinda, and G Fuel energy drinks, were found during routine inspections of food businesses across Southend by the council’s environmental health officers.

Keep ReadingShow less
Charity Super.Mkt at Brent Cross Shopping centre in north London

A customer browses clothes inside Charity Super.Mkt at Brent Cross Shopping centre in north London on, December 17, 2024

Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images

Brits kindle Christmas spirit with second-hand gifts

Bursting with customers one afternoon the week before Christmas, a second-hand charity shop in London's Marylebone High Street looked even busier than the upscale retailers surrounding it.

One man grabbed two puzzle sets and a giant plush toy as a present for friends, another picked out a notebook for his wife.

Keep ReadingShow less
Nothing is more important than your Mental Elf

Nothing is more important than your Mental Elf

Lancashire Mind’s 11th Mental Elf fun run was its biggest and best yet – a sell-out event with more than 400 people running and walking in aid of the mental charity, plus dozens more volunteering to make the day a huge success.

The winter sun shone on Worden Park in Leyland as families gathered for either a 5K course, a 2K run, or a Challenge Yours’Elf distance which saw many people running 10K with the usual running gear replaced with jazzy elf leggings, tinsel and Christmas hats.

Keep ReadingShow less
A woman walks past a window display promoting an ongoing sale

A woman walks past a window display promoting an ongoing sale, on December 13, 2024 in London, England.

Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images

Retail sales disappoint before Christmas

UK retail sales rose less than expected in the runup to Christmas, according to official data Friday that deals a fresh blow to government hopes of growing the economy.

Separate figures revealed a temporary reprieve for prime minister Keir Starmer, however, as public borrowing fell sharply in November.

Keep ReadingShow less