With (another) Brexit deadline looming, we are receiving questions from our customers about our readiness, along with being bombarded by ‘service providers’ eager to assist and give advice…
So we thought it might be useful for us to update everyone on the actions we are taking to mitigate our own risks, and in turn, the risks of our customers.
Of course, despite the Government constantly reminding us to, it’s quite difficult to plan for change when we still don’t quite know what those changes might be! So, much of our mitigation plan revolves around removing and reducing known risks whilst remaining flexible and ready to act on any short-notice implications.
In the run-up to previous deadlines, we have taken the decision to on-shore several of our components so we are now sourcing locally rather than importing, which has reduced supply risk, lead times and costs. We now import very little directly and, where this is the case, we have already placed orders for additional stock to eliminate transition customs clearance delays.
There are no doubt many other components where some risk remains due to our own suppliers importing from the EU and beyond, but we have reserved stocks in place for critical items and we are also working with key suppliers to ensure they are taking necessary actions to secure our supply chain.
We do not have significant imports or exports at the current time, so rather than attempt to deal with customs clearance ourselves, we always nominate (local where possible) freight forwarders or customs agents who are specialised in this area. We will continue to do this in order to maximise efficiency during such dealings.
Some of our workforce is from outside the UK (Slovakia) and we are assisting them as necessary in applying to the EU Settlement Scheme.
In summary, we are confident that we have taken, and will continue to take, all necessary actions to ensure that no major unmanageable risks remain. We are also confident that there will be very little, if any, impact on our overall costs or – more importantly – quality and service levels.
However, if you do have any further questions that we have not addressed in this summary, then please feel free to contact us.