JD Wetherspoon (LSE:JDW) PLC's (LSE:JDW) founder and executive chairman Tim Martin has dismissed claims that the shortage of beer in its pubs is down to Brexit.
Martin, who has been a high profile supporter of Brexit before and after Britain left the EU, said the problem of getting supplies of Carling and Coors was down to industrial action by Heineken drivers and warehouse staff.
“Strenuous efforts are being made to link supply issues to Brexit,” he said.
“In this case, the main link relates to industrial action, Brexit gave the power to the UK government to allow more HGV drivers in, should it choose to do so. There are supply chain issues in many EU countries following the pandemic.”
Brexit has been blamed as a reason for a shortage of up to 90,000 HGV drivers in the UK at present, but Martin noted there were also shortages of 400,000 drivers in Germany, France and Spain.
The FTSE 250 group apologised to customers on Wednesday after supplies of Heineken, as well as Carling and Coors ran out in some of its pubs.
The problems at Heineken prompted customers to switch to the other brands, causing them to run short, it added.
Molson Coors, which brews Carling and Coors, said it was a shortage of drivers that had affected supplies.
"While overall our availability is good, there are intermittent pockets of pressure in our supply network that are unfortunately affecting a number of Wetherspoons pubs," a spokesman said.
A Heineken spokesman said: "We're working tirelessly to find solutions to delivery issues caused by considerable disruption in the haulage and logistics market.”
Wetherspoons shares eased 1.5% to 1,103p on Friday.