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Labour shortages at meat processing plants have resulted in a surplus of 70,000 pigs on farms, the industry’s trade body has warned.

The surplus is growing by 15,000 a week and farmers are weeks away from having to destroy perfectly healthy pigs, according to Zoe Davies, chief executive of the National Pig Association.

It is blamed on an exodus of eastern European abbatoir workers, many of whom went back to their home countries after COVID-19 travel restrictions were eased but have not returned.

A shortage of workers at these plants reduces their capacity to process pigs meaning animals are left stranded on farms, growing fat and costing more money in feed.

At the other end of the supply chain, the bottleneck means some retailers are reducing the availability of some pork products on shelves or turning to EU suppliers to fill the gaps, Ms Davies said.

She called on the government to place butchers working in the plants on shortage occupation lists in order to address the immediate crisis.

“We have got weeks before we get to a critical situation,” Ms Davies told Sky News.

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“We have to do everything we possibly can to prevent animals having to be destroyed.

“It is a travesty that this is happening because there are solutions that are within the government’s grasp.

Chickens. File photo
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The poultry sector has also been hit by worker shortages

“We cannot understand why they are not listening.”

Ms Davies said failing to resolve the situation would be the “ultimate betrayal” following the UK’s vote to leave the EU and called on retailers as well as the government to support British producers.

“If we end up having to import more rather than being able to bolster our own production, how ironic is that?” she said.

The issue, first reported by the Financial Times, is the latest example of a cocktail of supply chain problems that have been taking their toll on the UK economy and creating shortages of consumer products from Nando’s chicken to McDonald’s milkshakes.

They can be traced chiefly to a tangle of developments stemming from the pandemic and Brexit: COVID-19 alerts keeping workers from doing their jobs earlier in the summer; the shortage of an estimated 100,000 lorry drivers; and a lack of workers caused by European workers going home.

The National Pig Association’s cry for help comes a week after the British Poultry Council highlighted the problem of worker shortages following Brexit that were facing chicken and turkey processors.

Ms Davies said that in the pig processing sector, 80% of staff were from eastern Europe, and employers were now facing shortages of 15-20%.

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The pig surplus is said to be growing by 15,000 a week

She said these workers had first been worried about Brexit and what it meant for their status and the problem was then exacerbated by the lockdown.

“People weren’t able to go home then desperately wanted to go home. A lot of those people haven’t come back.”

Even some who had been granted settled status in the UK and started families were deciding to return to their home countries, Ms Davies said.

After a “mass exodus” of foreign workers it would take time to train British nationals to do the job, she added.

Ms Davies said that for consumers some ranges including pulled pork, ham products and UK-reared pork shoulder were among those being affected.

But there was also a “huge concern” about Christmas with producers battling to stay on top of day-to-day demand rather than beginning to prepare seasonal products such as pigs-in-blankets.

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Good economic news as sunny weather boosted retail sales

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Good economic news as sunny weather boosted retail sales

Retail sales grew in June as warm weather boosted spending and day trips, official figures show.

Spending on goods such as food, clothes and household items rose 0.9%, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

It’s a bounce back from the 2.8% dip in May, but last month’s figure was below economists’ forecast 1.2% uplift as consumers dealt with higher prices from increased inflation.

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Also weighing on spending was reduced consumer confidence amid talk of higher taxes, according to a closely watched indicator from market research firm GfK.

Retail sales figures are significant as they measure household consumption, the largest expenditure in the UK economy.

Growing retail sales can mean economic growth, which the government has repeatedly said is its top priority.

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What does ‘inflation is rising’ mean?

Where have people been shopping?

June’s retail sales rise came as people bought more in supermarkets, and retailers said drinks sales were up.

While hot and sunny weather boosted some brick-and-mortar shops, the heat led some to head online.

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Non-store retailers, which include mainly online shops, but also market stalls, had sold the most in more than three years.

Not since February 2022 had sales been so high as the Met Office said England had its warmest ever June, and the second warmest for the UK as a whole.

The June increases suggest that the May drop was a bump in the road. When looked at as a whole, the first six months of the year saw retail sales up 1.7%.

Filling up the car for day trips to take advantage of the sun played an important role in the retail sales growth.

When fuel is excluded, the rise was smaller, just 0.6%.

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Despite lower consumer sentiment and more expensive goods, consumers are benefitting from rising wages and are cutting back on savings.

The ONS lifestyle survey – backed up by hard data like the Bank of England’s money and credit figures – shows that households have rebuilt their rainy day savings and are cutting back on the amount of money they squirrel away each month.

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Former Poundland owner lines up advisers as restructuring looms

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Former Poundland owner lines up advisers as restructuring looms

The former owner of Poundland is lining up advisers to supervise its transition to new shareholders through a court-sanctioned process that will involve store closures and job cuts at the discount retailer.

Sky News has learnt that Pepco Group, which is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, is drafting in FRP Advisory weeks after it struck a deal to sell Poundland to Gordon Brothers.

Industry sources said FRP had been asked by Pepco to act as an observer, with the High Court scheduled to sanction a restructuring plan in the last week of August.

Under the proposed deal, 68 Poundland shops would close in the short term, along with two distribution centres.

More shops are expected to be shut under Gordon Brothers over time, resulting in hundreds of job losses.

Pepco is said to be particularly focused on IT systems which Poundland uses in common with Pepco’s operations in Poland.

Barry Williams, managing director of Poundland, said at the time of the deal’s announcement: “It’s no secret that we have much work to do to get Poundland back on track.

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“While Poundland remains a strong brand, serving 20 million-plus shoppers each year, our performance for a significant period has fallen short of our high standards and action is needed to enable the business to return to growth.

“It’s sincerely regrettable that this plan includes the closure of stores and distribution centres, but it’s necessary if we’re to achieve our goal of securing the future of thousands of jobs and hundreds of stores.

Prior to the deal’s announcement, Poundland employed roughly 16,000 people across an estate of over 800 shops in the UK and Ireland.

Tax hikes announced by Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, in last autumn’s Budget have increased the financial pressure on high street retailers.

In recent months, chains including WH Smith, Lakeland and The Original Factory Shop have changed hands amid challenging circumstances.

In June, Sky News revealed that River Island, the family-owned clothing retailer, was also working with advisers on a rescue plan aimed at averting its collapse.

Pepco and Poundland declined to comment.

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TalkTalk dials up £100m investment from Ares Management

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TalkTalk dials up £100m investment from Ares Management

TalkTalk, the telecoms and broadband group, has secured a £100m capital injection from one of its existing backers in a deal that will relieve the growing financial pressure on the company.

Sky News has learnt that Ares Management has agreed to provide the new funding in two tranches, with the first £60m said to be imminent.

A deal could be announced as soon as Friday afternoon, according to banking sources.

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The funding agreement comes amid discussions between TalkTalk and its bondholders about a potential break-up of the company, which would involve the sale of its consumer arm and PXC, its wholesale and network division.

Those disposals are now not expected to be launched in the short term.

One person close to the situation said that in addition to Ares’s £100m commitment, TalkTalk had raised £50m from two disposals in March and June, comprising the sale of non-core customers to Utility Warehouse.

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There was also an in-principle agreement to defer cash interest payments and to capitalise those, which would be worth approximately £60m.

TalkTalk has been grappling with a strained balance sheet for some time, and recently drafted in advisers from Alvarez & Marsal, the professional services firm, to assist its finance function.

The group has more than 3m broadband customers, making it one of the largest players in the UK market.

It completed a £1.2bn refinancing late last year, but has been under pressure from bondholders to raise additional capital.

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Last month, the Financial Times reported that BT’s broadband infrastructure arm, Openreach, could block TalkTalk from adding new customers to its network in an escalating dispute over payments owed to BT Group.

TalkTalk, which was taken private in 2021, and Ares both declined to comment.

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