In todays news...

[weeksy]

How are you lot getting on with that petrol shortage that according to some definitely wasn't panic buying after some made up stories in the news?

It's expensive currently but no shortages.

[Mr. Dazzle]

How are you lot getting on with that petrol shortage that according to some definitely wasn't panic buying after some made up stories in the news?

Plenty of fuel around at £1.49 a litre

Still, could be worse. You could have modified your classic bike so it only runs on £1.69/litre super.

[Mr. Dazzle]

TBF there are still loads of shortages, we have all just tuned them out. There are not massive queues for stuff, but loads of times in the past weeks I've gone to buy something specific and not been able to find it anywhere....random shut, like ground almonds, red candles or 8 packs of diet coke.

[Pirahna]

There's more paperwork for imports/exports due to start on January 1st with the remainder coming in July.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Insurance rules are changing...it will be unlawful to charge existing customers more than a new customer would get. Itll be interesting to see if this actually makes stuff cheaper. I look forward to receiving my billions.

The FCA said the move would save loyal customers £4.2bn over 10 years.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59741141

[JackyJoll]

Insurance rules are changing...it will be unlawful to charge existing customers more than a new customer would get. Itll be interesting to see if this actually makes stuff cheaper. I look forward to receiving my billions.

The FCA said the move would save loyal customers £4.2bn over 10 years.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59741141

The common definition of a successful new law is it does not have the opposite of the desired effect.

Any actual improvement is too much to expect.

[Count Steer]

TBF there are still loads of shortages, we have all just tuned them out. There are not massive queues for stuff, but loads of times in the past weeks I've gone to buy something specific and not been able to find it anywhere....random shut, like ground almonds, red candles or 8 packs of diet coke.

Plus bulky/heavy low margin stuff like bottled water but also Mr Muscle shower shine (of course they have the £3.50 alternative on the shelves). The supermarkets do seem to be doing a pretty good job of spreading stuff out and trying to make sure nothing goes missing for too long, stuff comes in, gets bought, then turns up again 4 weeks later.

No danger of starving yet. (You could live for a few months on all the surplus stuff they got in for Christmas...chocolates, mince pies, comedy sausages, sausage meat, sides of salmon, beef joints - all half price-ish in M&S today).

[Count Steer]

TBF there are still loads of shortages, we have all just tuned them out. There are not massive queues for stuff, but loads of times in the past weeks I've gone to buy something specific and not been able to find it anywhere....random shut, like ground almonds, red candles or 8 packs of diet coke.

A lot of companies are trying to offset losses and streamlining their JIT process, plus it’s Christmas. Your shortages might be nothing more than bad logistics planning or stretching things a bit tight or even just a run on candles because your local school told the kids all to bring a red candle for the Christmas play.

Things have been disappearing, reappearing for several months eg some tinned and dried fruit. Different brands of things pop up too. They may be refining their deliveries/JIT processes to manage the driver shortage and also having to source things from new suppliers as the old ones struggle with new paperwork etc etc. I don't think we have a supermarket supply chain or logistics expert on the board to validate my speculations though.

[Yorick]

Fucking nutters attacking a vaccine centre. Stupid doesn't do them justice.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailym ... eynes.html

[Mr. Dazzle]

It's not even a vaccine centre, that's the testing centre. The vaccine centre is down the road and was being visited by Boris yesterday. I think they got a bit mixed up

[Mussels]

TBF there are still loads of shortages, we have all just tuned them out. There are not massive queues for stuff, but loads of times in the past weeks I've gone to buy something specific and not been able to find it anywhere....random shut, like ground almonds, red candles or 8 packs of diet coke.

A lot of companies are trying to offset losses and streamlining their JIT process, plus it’s Christmas. Your shortages might be nothing more than bad logistics planning or stretching things a bit tight or even just a run on candles because your local school told the kids all to bring a red candle for the Christmas play.

Things have been disappearing, reappearing for several months eg some tinned and dried fruit. Different brands of things pop up too. They may be refining their deliveries/JIT processes to manage the driver shortage and also having to source things from new suppliers as the old ones struggle with new paperwork etc etc. I don't think we have a supermarket supply chain or logistics expert on the board to validate my speculations though.

A couple of HGV drivers I know were discussing their unexpected days off just before Christmas, one made the comment "what happened to the driver shortage?".
The supermarket still has a bit less than expected even for Christmas, they might be slightly short but it isn't very noticeable.

[v8-powered]

Fucking nutters attacking a vaccine centre. Stupid doesn't do them justice.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailym ... eynes.html

Those pricks need burning on a stake, absolute idiots.

[MrLongbeard]

I couldn't get Twiglets for love not money at any shop, had to resort to Amazon to get some this year.
I was going to have a rant at the shortages, but then found they ran short in 2020 and 2019, so obvs sometimes shit happens and as we've not had any bother buying anything else since the 'story' broke we just cracked on with life.

[JackyJoll]

I couldn't get Twiglets for love not money at any shop, had to resort to Amazon to get some this year.
I was going to have a rant at the shortages, but then found they ran short in 2020 and 2019, so obvs sometimes shit happens and as we've not had any bother buying anything else since the 'story' broke we just cracked on with life.

Aw shit! Have they got cheese footballs?

[Count Steer]

A lot of companies are trying to offset losses and streamlining their JIT process, plus it’s Christmas. Your shortages might be nothing more than bad logistics planning or stretching things a bit tight or even just a run on candles because your local school told the kids all to bring a red candle for the Christmas play.

Things have been disappearing, reappearing for several months eg some tinned and dried fruit. Different brands of things pop up too. They may be refining their deliveries/JIT processes to manage the driver shortage and also having to source things from new suppliers as the old ones struggle with new paperwork etc etc. I don't think we have a supermarket supply chain or logistics expert on the board to validate my speculations though.

A couple of HGV drivers I know were discussing their unexpected days off just before Christmas, one made the comment "what happened to the driver shortage?".
The supermarket still has a bit less than expected even for Christmas, they might be slightly short but it isn't very noticeable.

Looking at M&S this morning I suspect that they, and others, may have got time off because they were delivering stuff faster than people were buying it (I imagine a few families reduced the scale of their gatherings). The shelves were creaking with Christmas specific stuff...which in many cases was occupying the space for the regular buys. The shop was very quiet and a bit of a rubber-neck through the back door revealed a store area that was crammed. They'd probably emptied the containers that were put into the car park for more christmas stuff into the store so they can stop renting the containers.

Sainsbury appears to have, correctly, planned for a quieter christmas but they'll probably have tins of Quality Street until August!

We'll see how things pan out when the 'christmas anomaly' clears.

[Yorick]

It's funny how a little island never runs out of things

[slowsider]

It's funny how a little island never runs out of things

It does have a notable surplus of crow.

[Count Steer]

In other news: Ghislaine Maxwell found guilty! How the hell did that happen? She'd spent a fortune on her defence which is usually a guaranteed 'not guilty' in the USA. Maybe her lawyers are hanging in there for the big payoff when it goes to appeal.

Given her little black book probably has some of the same names as her chum Epstein had in his it's going to be embarrassing if they put her in the same situation as him and she has to 'commit suicide' too.

[JamJar]

In other news: Ghislaine Maxwell found guilty! How the hell did that happen? She'd spent a fortune on her defence which is usually a guaranteed 'not guilty' in the USA. Maybe her lawyers are hanging in there for the big payoff when it goes to appeal.

Given her little black book probably has some of the same names as her chum Epstein had in his it's going to be embarrassing if they put her in the same situation as him and she has to 'commit suicide' too.

I now expect quite a tide of anti Meghan and Harry stories to distract us away from the Fact that Andrew the paedo said Epstein wasn't his friend and that it was really Maxwell that was.

[Mr. Dazzle]

The Daily Mail aren't going to know what to do with themselves!