Staying on top of stock

The last two years have seen a wide range of industries struggle with supply chain disruption. Due to the pandemic, Brexit and global supply challenges, many businesses have failed to keep a steady supply of goods in stock – including early years suppliers.

At Gompels, we’ve seen constantly changing business conditions and have started to see this abnormal situation as the new normal. Despite the current challenges, our warehouse is fully stocked and 99% of orders received by 4pm are being dispatched on time, in full for next working day delivery.

Here are some examples of the current challenges facing early years suppliers:

The pound has fallen to the lowest level against the US dollar in living memory. A drop from US$1.4 to the pound to US$1.2. This creates an immediate 15% increase on the buying cost of many products.
High gas prices have made tissue products expensive and prone to further shocks as the war in Ukraine continues to put pressure on European supplies.
Ongoing local lockdowns in China create concerns where a port or industrial region is affected by a shutdown. Due to long delivery times, the impact of this on UK supplies is often felt a couple of weeks or months later.
While the shortage of drivers has eased slightly, rising fuel costs have put up delivery prices by as much as 30% in some cases.
Sales of Covid-19 test kits have increased dramatically, reflecting a surge in the number of cases as reported in the press. This raises concerns about supply levels throughout the coming winter.
Strikes at the UK’s main port Felixstowe are expected at the end of August and will make a bad situation worse as ships will offload in Europe and delay containers by several weeks.

In addition to this, two of our containers are currently stuck on a ship that has been out at sea for two weeks without moving. We can only assume that it has suffered a breakdown because the shipping line has not revealed the reason behind the delay. This will likely affect port schedules and extend an expected four-week journey into eight-weeks – thankfully, we have enough stock in our warehouse to bridge this unexpected gap.

Supplier lead times are increasing in many cases, but we are managing by ordering extra early, holding more stock in our warehouse and, where necessary, buying from alternative sources.

The cost of vinyl gloves has also fallen from a high of £6.50 for a box of 100 at the height of the pandemic to just £2.50, and this is expected to drop further. Wherever possible, we are reducing prices for everyone without you needing to ask.

Despite all these challenges, it is very much business as usual for us – albeit in an unusual world. It is harder work, but it is still working! We continue to do our very best to keep all our customers supplied and updated as we can.

Our procurement team understands your frustration when a line goes out of stock. We do our very best to keep key lines in stock.