South: Third of businesses concerned about Brexit supply chain

One third of Southern businesses are concerned about the potential impact Brexit will have on their suppliers and customers, according to new research from insolvency and restructuring body R3.

A survey of 1,200 senior business financial decision-makers (494 in the South) was carried out for R3 by BVA BDRC.

In the South, 21% have reviewed the potential impact of Brexit on their suppliers and customers and are ‘somewhat concerned’ by what they had found, with a further 12% ‘very concerned’.

Mike Pavitt, chairman of R3’s Southern and Thames Valley Committee, and corporate restructuring partner with solicitors Paris Smith LLP, said:  “It’s a serious worry that a third of Southern businesses feel they are exposed to a supply chain risk as a result of Brexit.

“A key part of preparing for Brexit is looking at how it affects your supply chain and customers. It’s all very well making sure your own business has put adaptation plans in place, but these plans might not help if the businesses you depend on – customers and suppliers – are unprepared.”

A further 15% of businesses surveyed in the South said they had yet to review the potential impact of Brexit on their supplier and customer network.

Pavitt added: “Businesses which don’t understand how Brexit will affect their supply chains are at risk of sleepwalking into trouble. If your customers and suppliers aren’t prepared, you need to plan for how to deal with that.

“Businesses need to think about the alternative suppliers they can use, or how they can diversify their customer base. Businesses should also consider if they can work together with suppliers and customers to find shared solutions to what will ultimately be shared problems.”

More positively, 41% of Southern businesses which reviewed the impact of Brexit on their suppliers were reassured with what they found, with a quarter (24%) ‘somewhat reassured’ and 17% ‘very reassured’.