It seems that not even political heavyweights with insider knowledge of EU discussions know exactly what’s going to happen when – and if – Brexit kicks in.
There has been so much toing and froing in recent months that it’s easy to lose track.
One aspect I’ll be keeping a close eye on is our relationship with our trade partners in the EU.
Without knowing how things are going to pan out, some businesses are already starting to make moves which could be perceived to be Brexit-related.
Just last week, pub chain JD Wetherspoon uncorked plans to get rid of champagne, prosecco and beer produced in Italy, France and Germany and to substitute the drinks with UK tipples.
In short, champagne and wheat beers made in the EU will be removed from Wetherspoon pubs and replaced by sparkling wines from the UK and Australia, and wheat beer from the UK.
Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin is pro-Brexit, so it would be easy to put two and two together—to assume that this is a potent statement in line with the chairman’s political leanings.
But Martin has argued the move has nothing to do with forthcoming developments. He says changing the product list will help the chain broaden its horizons by introducing people to more UK products.
It’s part of a review of all products, over the next 24 months, decided to make the business more competitive and Martin has assured customers that the new products will be cheaper.
But he has spoken out about the EU customs union, which he says imposes tariffs on the 93 per cent of the world that is not in the EU, and deliberately keeps prices high for UK consumers.
Martin clearly knows his consumer; you don’t get to be the chairman of a chain of 880 pubs across the UK which welcomes two million customers every week without keeping a close eye on what customers are drinking.
The chain sells less than 100,000 bottles of champagne a year and stocks only Moet & Chandon but six million bottles of Kopparberg cider are purchased annually.
Looking at those figures, you can completely understand why he’s getting rid of the champers and as Kopparberg sells so well—regardless of Sweden’s place in the EU—that product is staying behind the bar. Kopparberg has also recently announced it will be transferring production to the UK post-Brexit, so take from that what you will.
Martin has also said the business development team will be focusing on working with suppliers of niche products. This could mean big-money deals for microbreweries and craft beer manufacturers and will give small companies the opportunity to shine on a huge national platform.
I understand the need for a business to be streamlined. In any sales operation, there will be products that don’t sell as well as others and it’s down to a good leader to find out why that is and to weed these products out.
But it’s so important to provide customers with choice in terms of type of product and of price point.
Martin and his team undoubtedly know their customers but I still reckon people are interested in sampling products from all over the world.
It’s difficult to balance the big sellers and the international newbies—but that’s the name of the game in a big food and drink business.
There’s no doubt the timing of this announcement was unfortunate for JD Wetherspoon and I think in the current climate, the business will have to do everything to make sure that it doesn’t backfire.
A good mix of products from all over the globe is the ideal scenario for a business of this scale but until we know how Brexit is going to pan out, it’s understandable that there will be a bit of toing and froing behind the bar.
These days there seems to be a trend of coming up with increasingly stupid new names for things that already exist.
Tagging a holiday on to a business trip? No you’re not, you’re having a “bizcation”.
And short and long honeymoons no longer exist. Now they’re “minimoons” or “megamoons”. Give me strength.
But the latest and most ridiculous one of them all is the JOBBYMOON. It’s not the new word for the upset stomach you get on holiday…it’s apparently a holiday taken between jobs.
Some of the funniest reading I’ve had all week was on Twitter where I read Scotland’s predictable reactions to this utterly ridiculous, and absolutely hilarious, new phrase.
Weep
I was sad to see another job cuts announcement from engineering giant Rolls Royce.
A whopping 4,600 jobs will go in the next two years as part of an overhaul of the business, with Derby workers bearing the brunt.
The company is no stranger to redundancies—in November 2014, 2,600 job cuts were announced.
And in March 2015 I remember Scottish posts being hit with 187 job losses announced across Inchinnan, Renfrewshire and East Kilbride.
In view of the latest announcement, Jamie Stone, the MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Ross, has written to the UK Business Secretary urging him to protect jobs at the Vulcan nuclear submarine testing site at RAF Lossiemouth, operated by Rolls Royce—so let’s hope that happens.
Sidebar
In recent years businesses have been paying more attention than ever to environmental awareness.
And right now the big focus is on plastic—the damage it can cause, and how we can reduce our use of it.
Why now? I think a lot of it’s down to David Attenborough.
The episode of Blue Planet II that looked at plastic pollution made for some pretty grim viewing.
We’re so used to that programme bringing us awe-inspiring footage of landscapes and creatures so beautiful that we can hardly believe they’re real.
But that particular episode left us gobsmacked for all the wrong reasons.
So I think we have a lot to thank Blue Planet for as it’s really made us all stop and think.
One move that companies are starting to make is ditching plastic straws, and what seems like a simple measure could actually have a massive impact.
Take Edinburgh-headquartered Apex Hotels for example. In the last eleven months alone the company used an estimated 33,000 straws and decided enough was enough.
Apex CEO Angela Vickers said the company was determined to play a part in protecting the environment—and used the recent World Environment Day to announce a company-wide plastic straw ban.
And multinational companies are at it now too, with McDonald’s announcing just days ago that it will be doing the same. From September, it will bring in paper ones instead.
Bravo to the companies that are trying to make a difference and let’s hope that more follow suit.
