The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020, and the current transition period, during which there is little practical change, finishes at the end of the year.
Negotiations on a new Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the EU and UK are underway. If these talks fail, the UK would begin trading with the EU on a WTO and third country basis, the so-called ‘no deal’ option. This would lead to trade between the UK and EU becoming subject to tariffs and new regulatory requirements.
Our Brexit preparations are being given high priority and overseen by our Group CEO and Managing Director. Actions include;
Resource Planning:
PPSPower have never relied on a workforce from outside of the UK and we therefore do not foresee any issues with maintaining a strong and capable team.
Purchasing:
The vast majority of our suppliers are based within the UK, we therefore do not import goods. However, we are conscious that our supply chain can be provided parts from within the EU and therefore import. We have gone out to our suppliers for their Brexit strategies and have not identified any major issues at this point. PPSPower benefit from having strong supplier relationships and we often have multiple suppliers for the same parts.
We have not currently identified any supplier issues from OEM’s and we have found that a lot of these are being supplied from outside of the EU.
Early last year we increased our stock levels of fast-moving parts in light of the Brexit movement and we are doing the same for the start of 2021.
It is recognised that as Brexit unfolds a number of parties will be concerned, including our customers and European based suppliers. We have therefore considered, amongst a number of areas, the potential impact of changes to tariffs and Customs borders, the potential impact on our costs, administrative workload and our employees, but also the effect of increased volatility of exchange rates.
PPSPower also supply fuel through our trusted partners. All fuel supplied is not from the EU, but from places such as the Middle East and Russia so we do not expect supply to change when any Brexit deals are put in place. The only possible impact Brexit could have is on price due to changes in import duty. This possible change will affect all fuel supplies nationwide.
PPSPower will be able to maintain the prices we have agreed with our contracted customers for their maintenance packages. We have always been in an enviable position when it comes to the purchase of parts for repairs and upgrade projects due to the wider group we are part of. This advantage remains and our costs for these types of works will remain as competitive as they always have been in todays market.
We hope that this statement covers the main concerns that you may have during this period of uncertainty. If you have additional queries or would like clarification, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours faithfully,
Stephen Peal
Managing Director
PPSPower