Music shops are reporting a national shortage of ukuleles after being caught out by a surprise British love affair with the Hawaiian instrument.

The four-stringed, instrument, beloved of George Formby and George Harrison, has become so popular in recent months that Chinese manufacturers cannot keep up with demand.

A ship of ukuleles is currently on its way to Britain from Shanghai, Britain’s main importer told The Times, but shops from London to Sheffield are warning customers not to expect new stock until next month.

Michael Doughty, whose Surrey-based company Stentor is the country’s foremost ukulele wholesaler, said that his sales had increased tenfold in the past decade because of a craze inspired by the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.

The band reworks classic tunes such as Leaning on a Lamp Post and covers popular songs such as Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit. “The main interest in ukuleles started because of them,” he said. “They were on television and people realised that it was a versatile instrument. I would estimate that the total market is more than 100,000 a year.”

His factory in Taixing, in the Jiangsu province of China, has struggled to keep pace with demand from individuals and schools, which use ukuleles as a cheap “starter instrument” for children whose small hands are unsuited to playing the guitar.

George Hinchliffe, who is co-founder of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, said that the band had given up trying to sell instruments at their gigs because they could not get enough.

“When I call up wholesalers they tell me that I can have a few when the boat comes in. I ask for 200 and they say, ‘You can have six at the end of the month.’”

The band formed in 1985 and had its first Top 100 single two years ago with its cover of Miss Dy-na-mi-tee, originally by Ms Dynamite. It has also performed at the Glastonbury Festival, on Radio 1 and on the South Bank Show.Britons spent more £300,000 on ukuleles in the last year, according to figures released by the Music Industry Association, although one retailer said that this was an underestimate.

Pete McClelland, head of the Hobgoblin chain of music shops, said that the craze began three years ago and reached a crisis last Christmas.

“You can get them, but it is hard to cover demand throughout the year. We went from selling less than 100 to 2,000.”

Other shops reported that players were inspired to take up the ukulele by watching videos posted on internet sites such as YouTube.

Matthew Reynolds, owner of the Duke of Uke music shop in Spitalfields, East London, said: “There has been a sudden explosion of demand. Our supplier ran out last December and we were told a long while ago that we don’t see any more until late June.”

George Formby, who played a hybrid banjo-ukulele, started the first British ukelele craze with hits such as When I’m Cleaning Windows and Leaning on a Lamp Post in 1936 and 1937.

Jumping flea

— Ukulele is Hawaiian for “jumping flea”, a reference to the speed of players’ fingers on the strings

— It evolved from a Braginho, a traditional Portuguese four-stringed instrument, introduced to the island in 1879

— It was popularised in Britain by George Formby who had hits with When I’m Cleaning Windows in 1936 and Leaning on a Lamp Post in 1937

— George Harrison and Eric Clapton both admired Formby and Clapton played the ukulele in The Intro and the Outro, a song by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band

Sources: etymonline.com, musicfirebox.com, Times database

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