In an analysis about how Brexit has transformed the UK, Matthew Lynn wrote in The Telegraph, “It is amazing how time flies when you are having fun. It may seem like only yesterday that the UK voted by a narrow margin to leave the European Union. In fact, it was five years ago on Wednesday.”
“Rewind five years, to the morning after a vote that took almost everyone by surprise, and the consensus was that the British had committed economic suicide. The pound dropped by the most on record, at one point getting close to parity with the euro and even the dollar. Investors fled from the London market,” Lynn wrote.
“As we now know, the predictions of Project Fear turned out to be wildly overblown,” he further wrote.
Among the many consequences, one is the shortage of labour and staff in the UK. Financial Times reported, “The company that owns the UK’s biggest cannabis production site for use in pharmaceuticals has called for changes to immigration policy following labour shortages after it was excluded from a visa scheme for farmworkers.”
“British Sugar’s operation, which supplies the US company Jazz Pharmaceuticals with ingredients for licensed anti-epilepsy drugs, is one of many farming businesses that has shut out of the seasonal workers’ scheme because they are not growing food,” the report said.
Lynn also mentioned in The Telegraph that “there can be no question that leaving the EU was a major turning point for the British economy. It will play out over two decades, at least. But five years since the votes were cast, the big trends are clearly visible.”
In the latest news, the UK has secured its first major post-Brexit trade deal, with Australia, hailed as a "new dawn" by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Under the plans, the government said: "iconic British products" (like cars, Scotch whisky and confectionery) will be cheaper to sell in the tariff-free agreement.
Trade Secretary Liz Truss said the deal was "important in itself but it’s also a gateway to the wider Pacific area". She added: "No hormone-injected beef will be allowed into Britain, we’re not changing that rule at all."
Nimisha from Nims Fruit Crisps told Asian Voice, “We have suffered greatly already with our food on the move products. This means the suffering will continue, unfortunately.”
Addressing the labour shortage, she said her business hasn’t suffered. “No actually which is surprising in a way because food production is normally staffed by overseas workers but given the pandemic, we have lots of applicants for every job we advertise. Having said that, not many necessarily have the skill set we need and we know that some of the people we hire will not remain in our employ long term once the economy picks up and they are able to find a job in their field. As an example, we have chefs, office works, automotive engineers, supermarket workers all applying for jobs,” she told the newsweekly.
How has Brexit affected her? Nimisha said, “Export has all but halted due to the increased costs, documentation, logistics problems. Import for fruit and veg (when not in season in the UK) has suffered delays and increased costs. Import of machines, parts etc has increased in costs and delivery times are ridiculously long.
“On the plus side, other businesses are suffering the same fate in trying to import so we are experiencing a surge in orders for ingredients from UK food manufacturers. The losses on food to go are being mitigated by this increased demand and it is becoming a category of product that we are producing more and more.”
With labour shortage, speculations are it’s leading the way to rising wages. Can businesses afford that, given the situation? Is the government helping in any way? Nimisha said, “Yes, wages are increasing. Businesses have no choice in a way and it will impact profitability. The government has introduced the Kickstarter and apprentice schemes but all these have huge waiting times to get off the ground. We have asked for 3 applicants – we will have to wait and see the calibre of candidates we are offered and whether the time spent training them is a help or a hindrance.”
