♠ Posted by Emmanuel in
Europe,
Trade
at 1/23/2019 03:34:00 PM
 |
| The battle of Britain...among companies seeking more warehouse space pre-Brexit |
If and when Brexit--of the soft, hard, or somewhere-in-between variety--finally happens, Britons are trying to anticipate the gumming up of intra-European trade by stockpiling goods in the meantime. Knowing trucks ("lorries" the English call them), ships, and planes may find loading and unloading cargoes becoming very cumbersome when the UK is no longer part of the EU and national customs procedures are reintroduced after so many decades on European goods, some folks are stocking up on imports already to prevent being stuck in a likely
post-Brexit logjam:
Three-quarters of UK warehouse owners say their space is full to
capacity and storage costs have soared by up to 25% in the past three
months after a surge in Brexit-related inquiries. The UK Warehousing Association (UKWA), whose 750 members have more
than 9.3m sq metres (100m sq ft) of space nationwide, said there was a
shortage of space close to major cities for stockpiling goods in case of
holdups at ports after a no-deal exit from the EU.
A survey of UKWA members from across the country last month found 85%
had received Brexit-related inquiries. About 75% were unable to take on
more business from new customers.
Actually, UK warehouse space has already become dearer with the growing share of e-commerce in the retail industry. Arguably, Brexit is only exacerbating this trend as Europeans working in the logistics industry head home in anticipation of losing their UK work permits:
Peter Ward, the UKWA chief executive, said: “We are facing a perfect
storm in the warehousing and logistics industry.” He said the prospect
of a no-deal Brexit had ramped up demand at a time when few developers
had been building warehouse space without confirmed tenants because
urban land was being prioritised for homebuilding. At the same time
demand for space was rising from online retailers while warehouses faced
a “severe labour and skills shortage” as workers from eastern Europe
headed home after the Brexit vote.
Aside from white nationalists, it boggles the mind why anyone would wish for Brexit when such an event likely sets the UK back decades in terms of commercial competitiveness and accessibility to the wider world.
Little Englanders they are, indeed.
