Logistics : The direct impact

of Brexit on businesses

The logistics industry undergoing important changes as a result of Brexit, for retailers as well as logistics companies overall. This comes in addition to structural challenges for companies, with mounting pressure to reduce delivery time, shrink the environmental impact, be more flexible and control last-mile supply chain.

Key figures about cross-Channel trade after Brexit

Many companies have successfully adapted to a post-Brexit world, great! But many other are still experiencing issues.

Researchers from the University of Aston that the exit of the UK from the EU has caused a 23% decrease in exports in the first 15 months (source: Les Echos). It also points out a 42% drop in the number of product lines exported, which has “serious implications for the UK’s future export capacity and productivity”. They also indicate in that study that exporters have just given up on accessing the EU.

The European Union, the United Kingdom’s main economic partner

The European Union will remain the UK’s largest trading partner in the foreseeable future, with its 450 million consumers. In 2019 the UK exported £294bn worth of goods and services to the EU, according to official statistics, representing 43% of British trade. Whatever government efforts to diversify export markets will take a lot of time before they materialise, a long transition period during which EU markets will remain crucial for UK companies.

Distribution to the European market from within the European Union

It is becoming increasingly clear for UK companies that setting up a company in the EU is probably the easiest solution for British companies to allow them to manage their supply chain in a timely and efficient manner. By distributing to customers from within the EU, UK companies’ export to the EU would be treated as a B2B operation, and therefore allow them to avoid additional taxes and tariffs, although they would still have to fulfil customs procedures and submit to controls where relevant.

Hauts-de-France: a land of supply chain infrastructures expertise

Hauts-de-France is a prominent logistics hub for all of Europe with its strategic location and exceptional transport infrastructures, which allow for efficient circulation of staff and goods while optimising delivery time.

Because we’re right on the English Channel, Hauts-de-France is a particularly strategic site for trade with Britain. Supply chain to and from the UK by road, rail or sea are highly likely to go through our region.

Optimise your shipping costs and maintain full control of your supply chain operations with a wide variety of transport modes, including:

🚚​ Road
Road transport is still extremely popular with the logistics industry, and our outstanding highway system gives you direct access to major European corridors. 12 highways run through Hauts-de-France, at the centre of a crossroads linking Paris, Brussels and London.

🚢​Sea
Our major ports – Calais, Boulogne and Dunkirk – constitute a genuinely international infrastructure that can provide you with efficient and timely access to not only Southern European and world markets.

🚆Rail
The region accounts for 10% of France’s total rail network. In particular, Dunkirk is France’s no. 1 rail freight hub, handling 13 million tonnes a year, or 11% of the national total.

And of course there are also ✈️ air connections and 🛥️ inland waterway transport.