Originally Posted by
True Blue
And I have spoken to a number of businesses where the new arrangements are playing havoc with their trade with Europe.
There are trade issues to the EU and currently that is of transport AND the friction that is the English border on the
Land bridge and the subsequent paper work and delays in the South East and Humberside going that way, THE RESULT OF THE “B” word and yes that’s a problem and consequence, NI can’t somehow avoid by dint of geography.
You can of course route down the N1/M1 and take advantage of the direct sailings, through they are far more expensive , much longer steaming and rather less frequent 😉
NI businesses certainly aren’t entirely immune to the self harm of ……………….. and the unilateral changes to the protocol WONT ADDRESS any of this and will jeopardise the integrity of GF agreement .
I have family that run a business manufacturing in Antrim and Poland and sending finished goods into the UK (Manchester, Glasgow and Essex) yes the effects of B…….. are a mare for such trading arrangements that were once simple. Load a forty foot trailer each week out of Poland on Monday arrive in Belfast Wednesday morning , load same lorry with finished goods off to Larne ( park overnight) catch ferry drop off in Glasgow, drive down to Manchester drop off back to Warrington to collect electric parts park overnight drive down to Essex off load some of the electrics and finished goods and back to Europe to get out of France before the weekend truck curfews.
Simply impossible now to do this and just one truck every ten days is all that can be achieved if you are lucky AND the cabotage use is no long available.
Result more costs on separate deliveries of finish goods on GB trucks , massively increased lead times and prices to customers across the UK.
Brexit reality’s Nothing great about it 🤕