Take These (Supply) Chains from My Heart

[Jdsk]

Import checks

"The UK government is set to announce a fourth delay to physical checks on fresh food imported from the EU amid industry reports that neither technology nor infrastructure resources were ready for the July start of the next phase of Brexit."
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ourth-time

Jonathan

[Psamathe]

Import checks

"The UK government is set to announce a fourth delay to physical checks on fresh food imported from the EU amid industry reports that neither technology nor infrastructure resources were ready for the July start of the next phase of Brexit."
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ourth-time

Jonathan

Must be placing UK food exports to EU at something of a disadvantage with respect to EU exports to UK. EU exporting to UK will continue to have no/minimal checks/red-tape whilst UK food exports to EU will have significant checks/red-tape meaning higher costs and longer delays.

Ian

[Jdsk]

Import checks

"The UK government is set to announce a fourth delay to physical checks on fresh food imported from the EU amid industry reports that neither technology nor infrastructure resources were ready for the July start of the next phase of Brexit."
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ourth-time

Must be placing UK food exports to EU at something of a disadvantage with respect to EU exports to UK. EU exporting to UK will continue to have no/minimal checks/red-tape whilst UK food exports to EU will have significant checks/red-tape meaning higher costs and longer delays.

It certainly is. Here's what the NFU said:
https://www.nfuonline.com/updates-and-i ... -nfu-says/

I'm not aware of any other trade negotiation anywhere at any time that has been so harmful in so many different ways at once, including:
* Penalising your own exporters
* Risks to health
* Additional costs on enforcement
* Wasted money on set-up costs
* Uncertainty about the future arrangements
* Congestion and pollution from the delayed transport.

Jonathan

[Jdsk]

And the vets have joined in:
"Vets say government decision to delay import checks requirement by up to 18 months “flies in the face of common sense”:
https://www.bva.co.uk/news-and-blog/new ... mon-sense/

Experts, huh!

Jonathan

[Jdsk]

Hormone Replacement Therapy

Serious Shortage Protocols invoked and a tsar and a whole new "Task Force":
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/thre ... ued-access

Jonathan

[Psamathe]

Hormone Replacement Therapy

Serious Shortage Protocols invoked and a tsar and a whole new "Task Force":
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/thre ... ued-access

Jonathan

I've no idea about the cause but reports put one of the causes down to "the Davina Effect". Just like supermarkets try and pre-stock whatever Celebrity Bake-Off is cooking (due to the TV program causing a surge in demand for ingredients used) apparently HRT demand soared after Davina McCall did a documentary (or Social Media or something) about her own menopause and apparently pharma are blaming the shortage in part due to this surge in demand.

Not an area I have any knowledge of so I'm just repeating the press reports Ive read.

Ian

[Jdsk]

Convenience stores

McColl's has folded.

“In order to protect creditors, preserve the future of the business and to protect the interests of employees, the board was regrettably therefore left with no choice other than to place the company in administration, appointing PriceWaterhouseCoopers as administrators, in the expectation that they intend to implement a sale of the business to a third-party purchaser as soon as possible.”

16,000 employees. 1,100 shops.

Jonathan

[al_yrpal]

We had a McColls near here. It was awful. Not surprised they have gone bust. Recently it was taken over by Morrisons and its now much better and still trading. Nothing to do with Brexit, just badly run.

Al

[Jdsk]

We had a McColls near here. It was awful. Not surprised they have gone bust. Recently it was taken over by Morrisons and its now much better and still trading. Nothing to do with Brexit, just badly run.

"McColl’s shares plunge 33% as it blames supply chain disruptions":
https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/20 ... sruptions/

Jonathan

[Jdsk]

We had a McColls near here. It was awful. Not surprised they have gone bust. Recently it was taken over by Morrisons and its now much better and still trading. Nothing to do with Brexit, just badly run.

Is it now a Morrisons Daily? As I understand it that was only a rebranding and supply agreement and the affected shops are still run by McColl's.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McColl%27 ... sons_Daily

Jonathan

[Jdsk]

Pigs and pork

Letter from the National Pig Association to Tesco:
http://www.npa-uk.org.uk/hres/NPA%20Ope ... er%20Tesco
includes:

"The problems facing the sector have been building for some time and have arisen through no fault of the primary producers. As I am sure you are aware, the industry has endured an unprecedented crisis over the last 18 months as a result of labour shortages and COVID disruption in processing plants that led to huge backlogs on farms and the needless culling of tens of thousands of healthy pigs, many within your own supply chain. This was before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and resulting additional cost increases pushed farmers from a very challenging financial situation to a critical one.
"National Pig Association survey data suggests there are still 100,000 pigs stuck on farms that should have gone to slaughter and farmers are losing in excess of £50 per pig due to the enormous gap between their cost of production and the price the supply chain is paying for pork. 80% of pig farmers surveyed indicated that they will not survive the next 12 months if things don’t improve and by 2023 British pork will be in such short supply that most retailers will no longer be able to source it. Tesco is in a unique position to help because of its UK market share and volume of pork sales."

Jonathan

[Jdsk]

Chicken

https://twitter.com/britishpoultry/stat ... 0938077184

Any guesses?

Jonathan

[Jdsk]

Convenience stores

McColl's has folded.

“In order to protect creditors, preserve the future of the business and to protect the interests of employees, the board was regrettably therefore left with no choice other than to place the company in administration, appointing PriceWaterhouseCoopers as administrators, in the expectation that they intend to implement a sale of the business to a third-party purchaser as soon as possible.”

16,000 employees. 1,100 shops.

And the rescue deal has been immediately rejected:
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/new ... n/15441782

Jonathan

[Stevek76]

Another case of brexit disproportionally hitting smaller businesses.* The lexiter argument about the EU being for the benefit of big corporations was always particularly baffling. They largely have the size and international presence to work around trade barriers far more easily.

*Though mccolls always struck me as being a bit... rubbish. As with many of these things, brexit can be the straw that broke the already struggling camel's back. The other camels might be stronger but they're still having a deal with an extra straw for no reason.

[Jdsk]

*Though mccolls always struck me as being a bit... rubbish. As with many of these things, brexit can be the straw that broke the already struggling camel's back. The other camels might be stronger but they're still having a deal with an extra straw for no reason.

The collapse seems to have several causes, as is usually the case, many of them related to a range of supply chain problems. The UK's decision to increase barriers to trade and movement of labour won't have helped, and by now there should be a lot more certainty about what's going to happen on that front.

Jonathan

PS: Next hope of a rescue bid seems to be from the EG Group. That's an interesting example of the enormous contribution of immigrants and their families to entrepreneurship. This is now getting the attention and analysis that it deserves.