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Logistics firms around the country say the poor weather over the summer is hitting their businesses. Hauliers - particularly those in chilled distribution - say the rainy conditions are causing a decline in demand for products such as ice cream and drinks, as people choose to stay indoors. Peter Simpson, managing director of Simpson Bros (Tyneside), based in County Durham, says: "This has been a bad summer for distribution firms in areas like food, drink and ice cream.

"With all the rain  which has fallen, there has just not been the usual demand for these products and the logistics industry has suffered as a result," he adds. "People are simply not going out as much this year, and what I am hearing throughout the industry is that this is not going to be a good summer for business." Pete Osborne, managing director of Nottingham-based Innovate Logistics agrees that it has been a bad summer for business, but that people at his company considered themselves fortunate they had not lost houses or personal items in the floods.

"The bad weather has had a massive effect on the business," he agrees. And it's due not only to demand: "It's with regards to driving conditions, volumes, and the vehicle damage that we are sustaining," he explains. "It's not only about the demand for chilled goods being down. We've had one vehicle written off in a flood, and some of our customers' premises are flooded," Osborne points out.

Rob Swindells, sales and marketing director of  Langdons, based in Taunton, Somerset, says the summer has "not been a complete disaster" and that business is still coming in. He adds: "The South-west has not had a great holiday season. Generally, in the summer, people go outside to eat, and people go out more, but that is just not happening this year."