Double whammy of Brexit and Covid forces ferry giant to reassess staffing levels.
Scandinavian ferry giant, Stena Line, has placed a quarter of its Holyhead dockers on furlough as Covid and Brexit cause a slump in demand, reports North Wales Live.
The ferry line has seen a marked decrease in trade since 1st January and blames the pandemic, trade disruption due to Brexit, and stockpiling at the tail end of last year.
Several weekend services have been cancelled and next week Stena Horizon will replace the larger Stena Estrid on the Holyhead/Ireland route.
Some in the industry fear that the slump in trade at Holyhead heralds a switch by some operators to direct routes to Belfast for goods to and from Northern Ireland, but the port’s authorities remain confident that normal trade volumes will resume soon.
The furloughed workers will take a 25% cut in pay and have been placed on the government’s Job Retention Scheme.
