What impact will have Brexit on

Transportation and Chain Supply

Management for UK business.

Prepared by: Ionela Alina Lungoci

Student number: 311287
Word count: 2994
Date: 23. 04 2021
Contents

Title page
Contents
Abstract
Introduction
Methodology
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
References
Appendices (Plan, Gantt chart, project log, evaluation)
Abstract

UK businesses from chain supply and transportation sector currently facing a disruption
because of Brexit and trade deal. It is well-established that transportation and chain supply
for UK businesses are affected by Brexit and trade deal for some time now and waiting for
improvements in the future. This study aims are to see if it is getting better the
transportation and chain supply, special for imports and exports after Brexit and what
should improve for the trade deal.
Secondary research has been done using different sources like, journals, articles and
websites taken from gale database and google scholar. The results showed that UK
businesses still have problem at the borders for imports and exports, that the trade deal is
still in negotiation and some businesses are considering moving geographic to avoid the
disruption from borders and losing money.
These results suggest that the trade deal is not finished yet and, in the future, after trade
deal is done, will be no disruption for imports and exports at the border.

Introduction

Since 1973 Britain was a member of the European Union (EU is political and economic union
of 28 countries, which trade with each other and allow citizen to move easily between
countries). In a referendum from 23 June 2016, most British adults voted to leave the EU.
On 29 March 2017 Brexit began with a deadline of 29 March 2019. On 29 March 2019
Ministers rejected the deal and the deadline was moved to the 31 October 2019. The
second deadline passed without a deal. On 31 January 2020 however, the UK left the EU
with a transition period of 11 months, 31 December 2020. (Steinberg, 2019)
From the first of January (this year) onwards, we will see a rapid change in the
transportation sector and how it will deliver, which will have a direct impact on Supply
Chains and Logistics Management all around UK. In the transportation sector, Brexit has also
severely slowed border checks, this could lead to a lot of financial losses for companies all
around EU that regularly import and export from UK. (Molloy, 2020)
This review aims to directly assess what impact Brexit will have on Transportation and Chain
Supply Management for UK businesses, and talk about many challenges UK businesses may
face.
After reviewing different journals and websites, this report will discuss the results in the
‘Discussion’ section and then come to conclusions. Detailed review of secondary sources will
be given in the ‘Methodology’ section.
Methodology

In my report, I have used several different sources to ensure sufficient research has been
carried out with differing opinions and a variety of sources. For most of my data, I have used
the gale database to find journals and news articles about my topic. I have used keywords
such as ‘Brexit’, ‘transportation and chain supply’, ‘impact’ and ‘UK businesses’, this function
allowed me to easily access helpful data that will help during my analysis of the questions.
The sources I have used are all online sources because it makes it easier to identify accurate,
reliable and relevant data to use and support my report.
One source that I have used is Molloy (2020), this piece of data was from a news article in
the BBC news. This source was reliable and accurate as it was published by the BBC, which is
known for its unbiased, factually accurate information. The source provides detailed
information of the topic and shows the struggle that transport companies from the UK and
the EU face on borders. However, a drawback of this topic would be that it is outdated as
the article was published in October 2020, this could mean that the response could have
changed over time. Although the article is dated, it still is a great piece of data that is worth
analysing.
Another example of a source I have used is an article written by Moradlou, Fratocchi,
Skipworth and Ghadge (2021) from Cranfield School of Management, published on Taylor &
Francis, on google scholar. This source is reliable accurate and up to date as it was published
by experts from Cranfield School of Management. The source provides detailed information
of the topic and shows strategies of post-Brexit back-shoring for chain supply management
for UK businesses. The source being reliable yet again means the data will be well presented
and non-biased.

Results

“TRADE
What the deal says

 There will be no taxes on goods (tariffs) or limits on the amount that can be traded
(quotas) between the UK and the EU from 1 January”. (Edgington, 2020)
 “Some new checks will be introduced at borders, such as safety checks and customs
declarations.” (“Brexit: What are the key points of the deal? - BBC News”)
 “There are some new restrictions on certain UK animal food products.” (“Brexit:
What are the key points of the deal? - BBC News”) “For example, uncooked meats
like sausages and burgers can't enter the EU unless they are frozen to -18C.”
(Edgington, 2020)
“SERVICES AND QUALIFICATIONS
What the deal says:

 Businesses offering services, such as banking, architecture and accounting, will lose
their automatic right of access to EU markets and will face some restrictions.
 There will no longer be automatic recognition of professional qualifications for
people such as doctors, chefs and architects.” (“Brexit: What are the key points of
the deal? - BBC News”) (Edgington, 2020)

“FISHING
What the deal says:

 “Over the next five-and-a-half years, the UK will gradually gain a greater share of the
fish from its own waters.” (“Brexit: What are the key points of the deal? - BBC
News”)
 “The UK could choose to ban EU fishing boats from 2026, but the EU would be
allowed to introduce taxes on British fish in response.” (Edgington, 2020)

“Many exporters to the EU are still struggling with the added cost and complexity of
shipping goods to the UK's largest export market, three months after the new post-Brexit
border procedures kicked in.” (Jack, 2021)

“UK goods exports to the European Union fell 40.7% in January, according to the Office for
National Statistics (ONS), while imports tumbled 28.8%.” (Verity, 2021)

“The idea is to "minimise the time the vehicles, which currently move seamlessly across the
border, would need to be stationary while checks are made on the goods inside them",
explained Kevin Green, marketing director at Logistics UK. (“FloralDaily: global flower news”)
“Having to do so would add delays which “add time and cost to the journey" and has to be
paid for by someone, he warned - and the logistics firms would not be able to absorb
"significant additional costs".” (Molloy, 2020)

“The Welsh government has warned that post-Brexit trading patterns threaten the viability
of the country's Irish Sea ports.” (Campbell, 2021)

“Post-Brexit checks on some EU goods coming into Great Britain have been delayed by six
months in order to give businesses more time to prepare.” (Islam, 2021)
“There's been far less trade than normal in the last few weeks, but these are not normal
times. (“Brexit: How much disruption has there been so far? - BBC News”) “It can be hard to
disentangle problems caused by Brexit and those by Covid.” (Check, 2021)

“British companies found themselves having to fill out customs forms to export to European
countries, but we have not seen big queues on motorways in Kent that some feared.”
(Anthony, 2021)

“As the only country that shares a land border with the UK, the impact of Brexit on Ireland is
expected to be greater than on any other European country. The objective of the research is
to evaluate the potential impact of Brexit on the transport sector in Ireland at a micro level
by focusing on cross‐border commuters and by also assessing the impact on road freight
transport. Potential crossing scenarios are examined at six crossing locations.” (Morchid and
O’Mahony, 2019)

“The manufacturing sector in the UK is currently undergoing a significant supply chain

transformation and managers are re-evaluating supply chain location decisions to minimise
the disruptions caused by Brexit.” (Moradlou, Fratocchi, Skipworth and Ghadge, 2021)

“The UK continues to reject the idea of an agreement with the EU on plant and animal
health measures (SPS) which would reduce the level of checks on trade between Great
Britain and Northern Ireland because it would involve dynamic alignment with European
rules in this area.” (Campbell and Fleming, 2021)

“The renewed tension in Northern Ireland could have far-reaching implications for the
future of the United Kingdom - and post-Brexit relations with the EU.” (Fleming, 2021)

“It is now three months on since the UK's separation from the EU and the greatest tension
in that time has been over the creation of a brand-new border within the UK - the Irish Sea
border.” (Vardy, 2021)
“This study investigates the impact of geopolitical disruptions on the manufacturing supply
chain (SC) location decision of managers in UK multinational firms. (“Geopolitical disruptions
and the manufacturing location ...”) “The context of study is the UK manufacturing sector
and its response to the UK's decision to leave the European Union (EU), or Brexit.”
(Moradlou, Reefke, Skipworth and Roscoe, 2021)

Discussion

The results show that Brexit has some impact on chain supply and transportation in UK
businesses. For the trade deal Edgington (2020) from BBC news has stated that having a deal
in place avoided the increase of price in some goods, however, businesses still need to
prepare for procedures at ports and incoming new paperwork, if not properly prepared
business can be disrupted. In the services and qualification deal, Edgington (2020) said that
businesses now must follow regulation in each individual country, and that the people with
qualifications gained in UK must confirm with every country in the EU to ensure their
qualification is recognized. In the fishing deal, Edgington (2020) said that that was the last
and hardest issue to negotiate, as some UK fisherman are unhappy with arrangement
because the deal doesn’t give them enough control. Starting in 2026, the UK and EU will
renegotiate the fishing accessibility.
Jack (2021) from BBC news had said that a first of 41% plunge of goods being exported into
the EU was described by government as "teething problems" as it is hard to tell if COVID-19
disruption had a role in the plunge. In February, the government insisted that "overall
freight volumes between the UK and the EU are back to normal levels” and there is no
longer any disruption in UK ports. However, several transportation groups insist focusing on
different figures for freight volume: the number of vehicles and ferry movements rather
than the value of goods traded between the EU and UK as lot more lorries than before are
returning to the EU empty. A small sample of members of the Federation of Small
Businesses said that one in four exporters had paused sales to the EU, and that 11% are
considering abandoning their plans with the EU completely.
Verity (2021) from BBC news said that both imports and exports to the EU fell in January. In
January 2021, the goods exported from UK to EU fell by £5.6bn and imports from EU
dropped by £6.6bn. The Office of National Statistics (ONS) said that in January the economy
decreasing by 2.9% was a "notable hit". Health care stood out in economic activity as well,
increasing by 8.7% because of Covid testing and vaccine schemes. Food services dropped by
28.1% because of cafes and restaurants not having the right facilities to supply takeaway
and delivery services during the pandemic.
In the transportation industry Molloy (2020) from BBC news said that Brexit has also
severely slowed border checks and could lead to a lot of financial losses for companies that
are importing and exporting from and to the UK. The Association of Fright Software
Suppliers (AFSS)has produced a solution to our pensive problem of slow border checks. This
would be their online check-in system where drivers can upload the documents necessary to
get into the country and pay their importing taxes online. However, this plan doesn't go
without obstacles. The AFSS has claimed that officials have yet to give them any details or
direction on their project, this could potentially mean delay in the project publishing or even
failure to the release of the project.
Campbell (2021) from BBC news said that the data for Welsh ferry ports in February shows a
relative decline of 50% in Holyhead, and 40% in the southwest, this is because of two main
factors. Firstly, Irish exporters are sending a lot more goods to the EU directly through ferry
services to France or Belgium to avoid the 'land bridge' route because of the new
administration and the fear that the loads could being delayed. Secondly, Northern Ireland
businesses, which used to send goods to England via Holyhead, are now making greater use
of ferries to Cairnryan or Liverpool, this is because goods going via Dublin are subject to
post-Brexit processes while direct NI-GB trade is unchanged.
Islam (2021) from BBC news said that the need for health certificates on imports such as
meat and milk will be pushed back from now till October and in-person inspections which
was previously due in July will now begin in January 2022.
The Reality Check team said in January 2021, on the BBC News that there's been far less
trade than normal in the last few weeks because of the problems caused by Brexit and
COVID. By leaving the single market and the customs union, a huge number of problems
have been created for businesses which trade between Great Britain and the EU. The French
authorities in Calais said that the flow of lorries across the Channel last week was at about
70% of normal levels. More than half were returning from the UK to the EU empty to avoid
new border bureaucracy.
Anthony (2021) from BBC news said that British companies must fill out customs forms to
export to European countries, but they have not seen any large queues on motorways in
Kent, that is because at least 90% of lorries which are going to the Dover-Calais ferry
crossing or going through the Channel Tunnel had the correct paperwork, including proof of
a negative test for coronavirus that was confirmed by the Department for Transport. The
Road Haulage Association (RHA) estimated that there were about 2,000 lorries a day in each
direction, compared with a normal daily figure of between 5,000-6,000lorries. John Glen,
chief economist for the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply said that many of
the problems before Christmas had been because ports such as Felixstowe and
Southampton which had been log-jammed, partly because dock staff had been off sick. This
meant that ships had been avoiding UK ports and increasing the problems for roll-on roll-off
ports such as Dover.
Morchid and O’Mahony (2019) from the Journal of Advanced Transportation stated that the
worst‐case scenario would be a vehicle delay of 18.4 min and the highest delay‐associated
costs are estimated to be €60.7 million per year. The freight transport will be affected by
Brexit and the impact will depend on the negotiations regarding whether the UK will be part
with the: European Economic Area (EEA), the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) or
Customs Union after Brexit. Thanks to shared EU membership allowing large volumes of
goods, UK and Irish retailers, manufacturers and businesses operate island‐wide, allowing
for supply chains to be transported across the border.
Moradlou, Fratocchi, Skipworth and Ghadge (2021) from the Journal of Production Planning
& Control said that International Location Decisions (ILDs) can be defined as a high-level
decision, to pinpoint the geographic location of an owned facility from a set of international
alternatives. Managers nowadays appraise ILDs by considering multiple factors such as
strategy, risk management, flexibility and supply chain reliability. They do not rely on
quantitative factors that trade off transport costs and scale economies. Also, the managers
are re-evaluating their supply chain location decisions to minimise the disruptions caused by
Brexit as a geopolitical risk.
Campbell and Fleming (2021) from BBC news stated that the UK has not let up on their
disagreement with the EU on their plant and animal health measures (SPS) although it
would reduce the number of checks between Great Britain and Northern Ireland trades as it
would involve dynamic alignment with European rules in this area.
Fleming (2021) from BBC news said that the section deal known as the "protocol" of the
Brexit was to protect the peace process by avoiding the need for checks on the border with
Ireland, but it also means that continue to apply in Northern Ireland some European laws,
and because of that has reinforced feelings among Unionists that they are being cut off from
the rest of the UK.
Vardy (2021) from BBC news stated that the Northern Ireland Protocol is a contentious
aspect of the Brexit deal, which introduced checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea to avoid
checks on the land border with the Republic of Ireland. The freight transport for industry
association, known as Logistics UK, have stated that since January around 48% of its
businesses which had exports to Northern Ireland has been delayed or cancelled due to the
challenges of the new border requirements.
Moradlou, Reefke, Skipworth and Roscoe (2021) from International Journal of Operations &
Production Management said that majority of companies has planned or have relocated
production facilities from the UK to the EU, and distribution centres (DCs) from the EU to
the UK. That happened because of market-seeking advantages, like, being close to major
centres of demand, ease of access to local and international markets, and efficiency-seeking
advantages, like, costs related to expected delays at ports.
Conclusion

The present study was designed to determine the impact of Brexit and trade deal on chain
supply and transportation for UK businesses, where I have answered my research questions,
and I met my research aims. It was difficult to find sources for my subject and I have learned
how to use gale database, improved my reading and writing. If I look back at my results, I
can see that my research questions have been answered and if I look back at my discussion,
I can see the summarise of my findings. If the time was longer for this report, I would have
found more sources and my report would be better and my skills for reading and writing
would improve more.
References

Anthony, A., 2021. Were there hold-ups in first week after Brexit?. [online] BBC News.
Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/55573772> [Accessed 21 April 2021].
Campbell, J. and Fleming, A., 2021. Brexit: Lord Frost to meet EU to discuss NI Protocol.
[online] BBC News. Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-
56742783> [Accessed 21 April 2021].
Campbell, J., 2021. Brexit: Welsh ports under threat from post-Brexit trade. [online] BBC
News. Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-56521780>
[Accessed 21 April 2021].
Check, R., 2021. Brexit: How much disruption has there been so far?. [online] BBC News.
Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/55831263> [Accessed 21 April 2021].
Edgington, T., 2020. Brexit: What are the key points of the deal?. [online] BBC News.
Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-55180293> [Accessed 21 April 2021].
Fleming, A., 2021. Analysis: What is Brexit doing to Northern Ireland?. [online] BBC News.
Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56678489> [Accessed 21 April 2021].
Islam, F., 2021. Brexit: UK delays border checks on EU goods into Great Britain. [online] BBC
News. Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56361229> [Accessed 21 April
2021].
Jack, S., 2021. UK exporters consider 'worst case scenario' plans. [online] BBC News.
Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56592411> [Accessed 21 April 2021].
Molloy, D., 2020. Brexit border software developers warn of delays. [online] BBC News.
Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-54706263> [Accessed 12 February
2021].
Moradlou, H., Fratocchi, L., Skipworth, H. and Ghadge, A., 2021. Post-Brexit back-shoring
strategies: what UK manufacturing companies could learn from the past?. [online] Taylor &
Francis. Available at:
<https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09537287.2020.1863500> [Accessed 15
April 2021].
Moradlou, H., Reefke, H., Skipworth, H. and Roscoe, S., 2021. Geopolitical disruptions and
the manufacturing location decision in multinational company supply chains: a Delphi study
on Brexit | Emerald Insight. [online] Emerald.com. Available at:
<https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJOPM-07-2020-0465/full/html>
[Accessed 21 April 2021].
Morchid, K. and O’Mahony, M., 2019. Transport Sector Impacts of a Border between Ireland
and Northern Ireland after a Hard Brexit. Journal of Advanced Transportation, 2019, pp.1-14.
Steinberg, J., 2019. Journal of International Economics. [online] Science Direct. Available at:
<https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022199619300121> [Accessed
15 April 2021].
Vardy, E., 2021. Brexit: Counting the cost of the Irish sea border. [online] BBC News.
Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-56597642> [Accessed 21
April 2021].
Verity, A., 2021. UK exports to European Union drop 40% in January. [online] BBC News.
Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56370690> [Accessed 21 April 2021].
Appendices

Plan

Topic selection and explanation:

The topic of choice for my research report is Brexit. I have decided to research Brexit
because of a new border controls and a separation of Great Britain from the EU and
Continental Europe. It is important to see if Brexit will be going to affect Transportation and
Supply Chain Management on UK businesses. This topic is of interest for several reasons, it
relates to my future degree in university, which is supply chain and logistics, help me to
have a better understanding on using different sources for my research and help me to
improve my reading and writing. By the end of the study, I hope to find out how Brexit may
disrupt transportation and chain supply for businesses on United Kingdom.
Research question and aims:
My research question will be: What impact will Brexit have on Transportation and Supply
Chain Management for UK businesses?
1. What Brexit means and what is transition period?
2. How Transportation will be disrupted by Brexit deals?
3. How local supply chains prepare and respond to the threats and opportunities
presented by constitutional change, thereby building resilience?
Sources of information:
This report will use data gathered from secondary research by using gale database to find
journals and articles related to my questions. I have used keywords such as ‘Brexit’,
‘transportation and chain supply’, ‘impact’ and ‘Uk businesses’, this function allowed me to
easily access helpful data that will help during my analysis of the question. The sources I
have used are all online sources because it makes it easier to identify accurate, reliable and
relevant data to use and support my report.
So far, I have found 3 suitable sources to help me answer my research question, I have
considered the benefits as well as the limitations of these sources:
1. For the trade deal Edgington (2020) from BBC news has stated that having a deal in
place avoided the increase of price in some goods, however, businesses still need to
prepare for procedures at ports and incoming new paperwork, if not properly
prepared business can be disrupted.
2. Morchid and O’Mahony (2019) from the Journal of Advanced Transportation stated
that the freight transport will be affected by Brexit and the impact will depend on
the negotiations regarding whether the UK will be part with the: European Economic
Area (EEA), the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) or Customs Union after
Brexit.
 3. Moradlou, Reefke, Skipworth and Roscoe (2021) from International Journal of
Operations & Production Management said that majority of companies has planned
or have relocated production facilities from the UK to the EU, and distribution
centres (DCs) from the EU to the UK.
Ethical Consideration:
I will acknowledge works of other authors used in any part of the report with the use of
Harvard referencing system.
Barriers to completion:
It was difficult find my resources, also hard to narrow down topic, but I manage to
overcome them.

Gantt Chart
 Independent Academic Study Project Log for 13 weeks

Week/ Proposed actions. Outcome Modifications required.

Date (Linking to plan in Gantt chart) (Progress made) (Linking to research)
Week 1 I have read about the I have begun to Sounds like a big report,
Introduction to IAS. explore some need to plan some time.
ideas such as
Logistics
Management and
Supply Chain
Management.
Week 2 I have thinking about subject I have started I must choose a
area. researching and question.
looking for
different subject
areas.

Week 3 I have decided and drafted a Approved by I am pleased that my

topic and question; Start tutor after topic and question is
writing Source review. discussing about drafted and that is a
my topic and good starting point.
question.
Week 4 Make Gantt Chart and start Source review I found ease to do the
writing about ethical completed. Gannt Chart.
consideration.

Week 5 I have done Completion of Submitted Plan

Plan. for tutor to check.
Week 6 I have improved my plan, after I have continued my I have found difficult
has been checked by my tutor. research by looking to find different
for different sources for my
keywords. questions.
Week 7 I started to do introduction for Continued my Didn’t found many
my report. research and finding sources for my
different sources. report, which is
disappointing.
Week 8 I started to do methodology for Continued with my
my report. research.
Week 9 Started to do results for my Continue with my I have read all my
report. research. findings and try to
chouse which one
will go on my report.
Week 10 Started to do discussion for my Still looking for It is difficult to find
report. different sources, to my wards, but I am
make my report not going to give up.
better.
Week 11 Started to do conclusion and Requested more
evaluation for my report. time for a better
report.
Week 12 Started to do abstract for my Have a better I found hard to
report. understanding, how complete this
to do an academic report, but also give
report. me a better skill in
reading and writing.
Week 13 I have finished my report and Completed my
now just do last check before report.
submission.
Evaluation

By doing this report I experienced and developed at the same time new skills such as,
working with gale database, how to find sources, improving my referencing and citation,
also find more difficult to answer my research questions. The report went well because I
have found all the answer needed from my questions in my research. The good points for
this report are that I have improved and gained new skills such as, writing, reading,
researching by using gale database, giving me a better understanding about my future
degree. The bad points for this report are that my researching subject was difficult and
couldn't find many sources, the time was limited. If I have another chance to do this report, I
will defiantly take more time to do it better and maybe I will change the subject research.