Following the rejection of the PM’s Brexit deal, Graham Parker, CEO of Gravity Supply Chain provides an expert comment on what a no-deal Brexit could mean for the UK’s supply chain and its impact on the retail industry…
“In the event of a “no-deal” Brexit, disruption to freight and aviation is likely to cause significant hurdles in the supply chain. A “no-deal” outcome will mean no transition period which could result in limited transport permits and no agreement around aviation. Businesses need to begin evaluating their existing supply chain models to prepare for potential logistical disruption.
For retail businesses, in particular, this will undermine the effectiveness of their speed to market, and potentially trigger a negative impact on customer loyalty. Enterprises need to safeguard themselves on two fronts – firstly by ensuring the cost of operation remains manageable and secondly by reducing the likelihood of supply chain disruption affecting the consumer.
Real-time visibility of the supply chain will be essential to achieving these goals. Fact based decision-making, informed by a consistent feed of real-time data from crucial touch points across the entire supply chain, will allow businesses to react quickly to supply chain disruption, allowing them to overcome the strategic challenges that may arise.
Retail organisations are already facing tremendous hurdles, such as soaring rent, and changing customer expectations in the age of online retail. Many retailers have invested in technologies that have enabled them to innovate in the face of these hurdles, but a significant number are yet to undergo digitisation in their supply chains. The impact of a “no-deal” Brexit outcome, presents a further threat to retailers. Moving quickly from traditional and out-dated manual processes, and into digitised management processes that enable essential real time visibility, will be crucial to companies successfully identifying, and subsequently overcoming, the logistical hurdles that are inevitably likely to follow a “no-deal” outcome.
