A Statement from the Managing Director.
Dear All,
As you know (and are probably fed up with) Brexit is nearly upon us and whichever side of the debate you sit on what can be sure, is the terms of how the UK leaves and trades with the EU will never be good enough to some of the players on either side of the game. Trying to foresee what will happen at the point of Brexit, or after, is a futile exercise due to the intransigence of politicians which is why unlike many other suppliers we refuse to add to the general feeling of alarm, negativity and emotion and have chosen to look at the situation in a proactive, calm and logical way for our customers both within the UK and the EU to ensure stability of supply as well as pricing:
- As a worst case if the UK goes out without a deal with the EU on the 31st October we would revert to WTO rules which is 0% in most cases for the vast majority of our ingredients and 6.5% max for some ingredients. There are always price rises in ‘normal life’ however we do not expect price rises across the board like some have been saying. Nutraceuticals and its partners would guarantee to absorb any costs on the few ingredients that may have duty added (and we believe this will be unlikely).
- Nutraceuticals has increased its stock holding across all lines based in the UK, and have facilities to land and ship from German and Irish warehouses as a worst case. These tested routes will ensure the same smooth service for all our customers well into 2020.
- We have increased our logistics, business support and planning team to ensure stability and speed for our customers and partners.
- Nutraceuticals as well as our logistics partners both have registered EORI numbers to ensure as smooth a service as possible.
- Nutraceuticals has registered for (Transitional Simplified Procedures) TSP which will make importing easier in the case of a no deal Brexit.
- Nutraceuticals will arrange customs clearance and delivery on behalf of our customers for deliveries to the EU.
- Although GBP did de-value after the results of the referendum, it has since been very resilient, as has been the wider UK economy – and although we do expect a bit of turbulence around Brexit day we do not expect GBP or the economy to crash as some have been saying. Furthermore, Nutraceuticals has built up very strong foreign currency reserve accounts over the last years which means we buy most of our stock requirements already in USD or EUR which further protects our customers from currency fluctuations in GBP.
The next few months will undoubtedly be bumpy as all divorces are, however we at Nutraceuticals are confident that the steps we have taken will ensure maximum stability and protection for our customers, as well as calmness in these turbulent times, business, like water finds a way to flow naturally, and life will still go on.
Business as usual.
Kavan Ranasinghe
Managing Director