No surprise there - lots of highly manufactured products have been in short supply since lockdown.

True.

I need some work done in my house and the contractor just can't get the basic materials.

(Visit together to the trade supplier and I pay for delivery to my house. No money up front. For timber based products the delay can be up to six weeks for stuff usually available next day.)

Indeed. I've been waiting almost two weeks to have a new fridge delivered, with VERY few in stock. I've had to buy a load of plastic ice block and swap the from the fridge to the freezer and back again to keep the former cold and food from going off. Real fun.

I managed to get a new mobile phone whilst 85-90% of phones on certain websites (especially mobile phone service providers) were not available.

Good time to sell a car second hand though (if you've already got a decent preice new one ready to go or don't need one at all) - prices on the up.

No surprise there - lots of highly manufactured products have been in short supply since lockdown.

True.

I need some work done in my house and the contractor just can't get the basic materials.

I managed to get a new mobile phone whilst 85-90% of phones on certain websites (especially mobile phone service providers) were not available.

I Mangaed to get new mobile phones for next day delivery, over front door grp canopies in the normal delivery times, took what was available for new driveway and patio paving slabs, Round here (unusually for essex) booked builder in for 3 weeks time. A few phone calls is all it takes.

Got a picanto for a mate recently from MotorPoint for a mate delivery 3 working days.

Yes, times are difficult, but a bit of compromise and research does the trick unleaa you want a pink 6 wheel roller for lady penelope..

To be fair, even Motorpoint has a serious shortage of stock - about a third of their normal level. It was the same for my new fridge and mobile phone - many sites have most of the stuff 'not available' or in short supply. I too was lucky with the phone that delivery was still as usual, but many sites has no stock of the alternatives I was looking at - especially at the cheaper end of the market.

The 'manufactured goods' I was talking about were ones with electronics in them (mainly made in China) and are normally in demand all year round. Building materials aren't so dependent on the Far East being open, but equipment certainly is - e.g. boilers, where they use Chinese-made electronics, motors, etc even if the boiler is assembled in the UK (which quite a lot are). A local plumber told me there were significant shortages of such things.

Don't forget that many plants were shut down for several months (or on limited output due to social distancing / having to be deep cleaned, etc) and thus stock has not been replenished much.