Donnacha Ryan, London Office, Bord Bia – Irish Food Board
Brexit is the single biggest challenge facing the Irish food and drinks industry. According to Bord Bia’s Brexit Barometer, the supply chain is one of the greatest risks emerging from the uncertainty around the UK’s future status as a trading partner with the EU.
Companies exporting to the UK need to be concerned with ensuring their business is ‘Brexit-ready’ by focusing on these key areas and taking whatever steps they can now to negate risk further down the line. The challenge is not only to prepare your own business but also to ensure that each of your supply chain partners (logistics network, UK based suppliers etc.) are also doing their utmost to plan ahead.
Manufacturers are likely to face increased costs and other challenges in their supply chain in the short and medium term as companies both prepare for Brexit and continue diversifying into European and International markets. Given that the UK is often used as a land bridge to other export markets we must also consider potential tariffs or delays that could occur when servicing those further afield markets.
In light of this Bord Bia are running the Supply Chain Strategy Workshop which will look at ways to improve supply chain resilience and effectiveness with a mixture of case studies, discussion, and handouts. The event takes places on 21st February at Bord Bia’s offices in Dublin. For further information please contact Shane Hamill (shane.hamill@bordbia.ie) or click here to register now for this event.
