Photographer: Ben Stansall / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Ben Stansall / AFP / Getty Images
Grizzly’s Custom Bikes maintains and upgrades Harley-Davidson motorcycles by importing aftermarket seats, exhaust systems and other parts from Germany.
This week, the owner of the Folkestone, England-based company received a two-line email with bad news: his German supplier is stopping all shipments to the UK indefinitely due to Brexit.
“I was deflated,” said Paul Hayes-Watkins. His company is now struggling to find alternative sources for parts. “If this is what the future will look like,” he said, “I might as well close the doors.”
Grizzly’s experience is a sign of how Britain’s departure from the European Union’s internal market on December 31 is already wreaking havoc on companies’ supply chains. Businesses of all sizes are trying to avoid getting caught up in the delays at the border when new controls and paperwork go into effect – even if Britain and the EU manage to negotiate a trade deal.
Specac Ltd., a manufacturer of laboratory equipment in the London suburb of Orpington, imports metal parts from the Czech Republic and exports about 15% of its products to the EU. The company has one embargo on all imports and exports until January 15 to avoid an early Brexit disruption.
Wrong paperwork
“There will be people who put things on the road with the wrong papers,” said David Smith, Specac’s director. His firm placed his orders early to cover the winter crisis. ‘If we didn’t have ours embargo, companies like us can be behind the queue. “
Britain gets a taste of border congestion from an early age madness of stockpiling. Long lines approaching the busy ports of Dover and Calais forced the Japanese automaker this month Honda Motor Co. temporarily closed its factory in Swindon, England. With a trade agreement between the UK and the EU still not in place, buying goods means buyers can avoid paying tariffs that could be levied from January 1.
EU gives Johnson Fishing Ultimatum as Brexit is at its peak
Pooch & Mutt, a UK importer of gourmet pet food from Spain and the Czech Republic, said the cost of bringing goods to the UK has increased by 150% in recent weeks. Difficult to book slots on trucks.
“The whole logistics is just a nightmare,” said Guy Blaskey, the company’s founder, who expects the cost of complying with Brexit’s new bureaucracy will add 3% to his cost base. “We warned our customers that we may need to look at price increases.”
As a new sign of mounting pressure on UK supply chains, Europe’s largest truck owner said so this week reject deliveries to the UK after Brexit if there are border movements.
The challenge is especially acute for importers of fresh products, who cannot stock extensively because the goods will spoil.
Bini Ludlow, whose company makes upscale Indian ready meals in Somerset, bought additional tomatoes and onions from the continent, batches them and put them in the freezer ahead of the Brexit deadline.
“Everything will be delayed,” she said. “It will disrupt us all.”
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| To see how complicated moving goods across the Channel will be next year, check out our games Brexit border game here. |