How Brexit Can Impact Restaurants: A Guide to Resources for UK Operators
With the COVID-19 pandemic already having a huge impact on the hospitality industry around the world, the added stress of looming changes from Brexit is weighing heavily on UK restaurant operators. Lumina Intelligence’s 2021 Top of Mind Report found 56% of hospitality business leaders were unclear about the impact of Brexit and less than one-third of respondents felt clear about what the impacts would be on their business in 2021.
We’ve assembled a list of resources to help answer questions about Brexit’s upcoming impact on the hospitality industry including changes to labour laws, operations, tariffs, and supply chain management.
Public Sector Resources
GOV.UK Brexit Hub: This is the main space to find government resources and information on all things Brexit. Sections include:
- Brexit checker tool: A quick quiz that provides users with a list of personalised actions to take for their situation.
- Border operating model: A guide to how the border with the European Union will work after the transition period. This is important if you have employees or staff from outside the UK.
- Rules of origin for goods moving between the UK and EU: Information about tariffs and transfer of goods regarding rules of origin requirements. This will be essential information for sourcing ingredients outside the UK.
- Export or move food, drink and agricultural products: This includes information about processed food and drink as well as what items are considered restricted and prohibited goods.
- Importing and exporting wine: These are specific rules for wine importers, exporters, producers, and distributors of wine.
- Organic food – labelling rules: This covers how organic food can be labelled when moving between borders.
CBI Brexit Bulletin: The CBI, or Confederation of British Industry, highlights government guidance to help businesses at the end of the Brexit transition period.
- Relevant topics for restaurants include importing and exporting goods from the EU, work visas for EU residents, and regulations on goods and services.
Private Sector Resources
KPMG: Brexit Readiness: KPMG is a global professional services network with a focus on audit, tax, and advisory services. In addition to this hub, their collection of Brexit advice includes:
- What does a Brexit deal mean for business?: This downloadable PDF is an overview how Brexit affects business supply chain and logistics disruption, customs documentation and tariffs, tax implications, and more.
- Podcast Series “Perspectives on the New Reality”: This 25-series podcast brings in experts across KPMG to discuss how Brexit affects their area of expertise.
- On-demand Webinar “Brexit, customs and VAT: How can you keep your operations moving in a post-transition world?”: This webinar, which you can watch at any time, covers managing supplier relationships, minimizing the impact of customs duty, and understanding transaction types for your business.
Fragomen – Brexit: What You Need to Know: Fragomen is an immigration-focused law firm with resources to help demystifying the staffing implications of the new system.
- Preparing for the new UK immigration system: This downloadable checklist helps with workforce planning strategies and the steps you need to take to ensure your staffing plan is up to date.
Travers Smith Brexit Briefing: Travers Smith is a full-service UK law firm. They have a list of questions with answers including, “What are the key changes for imports of EU goods from 1 January 2021?” and “Is there likely to be disruption to goods supply chains – and how bad could it be?”
