Once in a while, somebody releases statistics or data that tells a complete story in figures alone. Take this example from the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) last week.
…One fifth of laying hen are kept in sheds that are more than 25 years old, with the average shed age being 17 years. Meanwhile, sheds for pullet ands and breeding activities are even older . The total spend on building construction fell by 40% compared to the previous five-year period. The UK poultry sector is being squeezed, even if this is not immediately apparent.; If you want another example, many English pullets are living in sheds that are up to 50 years old, while their Welsh counterparts are accommodated in sheds that go back 12 years on average. (data available here))
There is no suggestion that the fabric of the buildings concerned could be unsound, but rather that as supermarket suppliers, they have faced pressure to leave capital expenditure for years on en. The lack of due process to recover their legitimate capital costs, let alone operating costs, just adds injury to insult.
