Regular readers of my Leaders will perhaps already be aware of my concerns about supply chain disruption - and with that I’m not just referring to the supply of products and equipment for our industry, but the supply of its people too: those whose job it is to work on cleaning contracts, along with folk who have to travel by road from one place to another, be they service engineers, equipment demonstrators, salespeople or anyone else who, unlike me, isn’t mainly home-based. Living on the outskirts of London as I do, a single journey by car will often take me over the ‘raggedy’ border of the Ultra Low Emission Zone several times. Luckily my car is ULEZ compliant, (until the goalposts are moved, which I’m sure they will be if Sadiq Khan remains in office!) which means I’m not fined for driving into the zone. Every time I do drive into it though, I think of those not only in our industry but everyone -  individuals and companies, who are now far worse off financially thanks to the the zone's recent expansion. 

  

It’s not just ULEZ that’s making it difficult for us to go about our daily business either, but the burgeoning miles of rarely-used cycle lanes taking up valuable road space, 20mph speed limits along roads that can safely take much faster traffic and the LTNs (Low Traffic Neighbourhoods) which bar traffic to non-residents and effectively ‘kettle’ traffic into already very busy routes. 

  

Driving in and around London is now something of a nightmare – an expensive one for those unable to afford a ULEZ-compliant car – with journey times taking far longer than they used to and the resultant frustration of those sitting in the air-polluting traffic jams taking its toll on our mental health and physical wellbeing and leading to road rage incidents. It’s only going to get worse if things are allowed to continue the way they’re going! I tend to avoid politics in these Leaders as a matter of course, but considering the damage the current Mayor of London’s road policies are doing to individuals and businesses, I’m willing the good people of London who have the opportunity to vote in today’s mayoral elections, to do so – and with it vote in one of the candidates who aren’t supportive of this drive to make our journeys by road far harder than they need to be! 

  

Further away from London, the border checks between continental Europe and the UK, which came into force this week, have been receiving mixed press to the extent that I’m not quite sure what to believe. I think we’ll need to assess that one further down the line, when things have settled a bit…