News (including the Drop and Drive Workgroup)

With plenty to build upon from last year, February’s Customer Supply Group meeting got off to a positive start with both old and new members fully engaged with key projects running for 2020. Thank you to @molsoncoors for hosting our first meeting and, along with our regular members, we were delighted to welcome @pladis, @PZCuzzons, @Tate&Lyle @kpsnacks.

Has anything changed a result of Super-Saturday?

Parliament has voted to postpone the meaningful vote, but not delayed the Brexit clock. 
The PM has been obliged to request an extension, but the EU are unlikely to postpone the deadline unless there is a clear alternative to 'prolongation', and the PM is claiming he will not negotiate an extension. The options are the possibility of a vote on 'Boris' Deal', subject to the Speaker's approval, an extension or the default, which is still  No-deal, on October 31st.

85% of vehicles bringing imported goods into the UK are foreign…30% of those return to the EU empty. If export delays occur hauliers will potentially be less keen to take on those routes or will demand higher prices to compensate for any delays. This is just one example of the no deal Brexit effect that is likely to further increase pressure on transport costs both in the UK and abroad.

*Due to the success of our Brexit Workshop last week we are running a repeat session on Thursday 24th October*

For those that were unable to make the first session, we hope you can join us. Places are very limited so please sign up to avoid disappointment.

BOOK YOUR PLACE

Delegate feedback: "First time I have come across useful detail on Brexit....A great session". 

It was a packed meeting room at our Brexit Workshop this week held at Culina, Lutterworth. Facilitated by Simply Supply Chain and leading Brexit expert, Robert Hardy from Oakland Invicta, the workshop was an opportunity for all supplier practitioners to learn whether preparations they have made so far will actually stand up to the day-to-day operational challenges of importing and exporting after 31st October.

In the chaotic lead up to a likely no deal it is becoming clear to us that few are ready for DAY 1 after Brexit. Stress tests to date on initial planning have shown that most will fail.

 With Brexit uncertainties at an all-time high, it’s not surprising that the focus of the regular Customer Supply Group forum was on how well prepared companies are for Brexit. Following on from our previous blog post: How Your Peers and Competitors are Preparing for a Hard Brexit, the sentiment in the room was a mixture of concern, heightened awareness and a realisation that there is no clear guidance for those who work across the supply chain on what happens when we finally leave the EU, assuming it goes ahead.

 Gaps, Uncertainties and Plans; with the likelihood of a Hard Brexit increasing as a possibility, we have no other option than to prepare for the implications on supply chains. 

Issues such as: increased requirements for customs declarations and the massive administration implications associated with this; new rules of origin requirements; the border checks and associated delays at all points of entry; and the availability of knowledgeable and experienced resources means there is little time left to plan: particularly with less than 80 days to go!

Back in 2014 a group of 20 suppliers, led by Jonathan Kittow, came together to form a workgroup that bought the practice of ‘drop and drive’ to the attention of the GCA. Evidence from the workgroup showed participating suppliers were being deducted, without any substantiation, £15m a year between them for alleged discrepancies in their deliveries. It was this evidence that Christine Tacon needed to publish her damning dossier on the practice and to introduce Good Faith Receiving.  In 2018 those same suppliers who have fully engaged with GFR are now seeing reduced claims by up to 90%.

Letter to The Grocer, October 2018

Dear Sir

As reported last week in The Grocer ‘Women in Agribusiness Award’ the USA appear to have recognised Christine Tacon, The Grocery Code Adjudicator’s, impact on the UK Grocery retailers more fully than some of our own institutions....