Manufacturers worry post-Brexit border delays could hit their businesses
More than three quarters of British manufacturers say border delays post-Brexit would be a risk to their business, according to a survey released today.
The survey by insurer AIG and manufacturing association EEF showed 76 per cent thought delays at the border posed a risk to their business.
“While companies are naturally optimistic by their very nature, the spectre of Brexit is now very front of mind for manufacturers,” EEF chief executive Stephen Phipson said.
“This is bringing with it a whole host of risks from increased exchange rate volatility to rising input costs which right now are very difficult to plan for.”
According to the survey, 62 per cent of manufacturers were planning to stockpile goods before Brexit.
A survey released last week showed that stockpiling of goods and raw materials by manufacturers had reached near-record rates, boosting manufacturing activity in December.
Today the government is testing a contingency overspill park for lorries at a disused airfield in Kent as it prepares for expected disruption caused by increased customs checks at the border.
The trial at Manston airport is intending to test how Kent’s road network will deal with expected delays caused by border checks at the port in Dover post-Brexit amid worries of lorry tailbacks on the M20.