Brexit: Maintaining supply chain resilience

It’s crunch time. With the clock ticking down to Brexit, the time for division, uncertainty and inaction is over: politicians need to come together to deliver a deal that works, and businesses can no longer afford to “wait and see” the outcome before planning their Brexit strategies.

That was the stark message from keynote speakers at Clyde & Co’s “resilience” event on 10 October, entitled “Brexit: Maintaining supply chain resilience”. The pan-industry event saw the Rt Hon Ken Clarke MP QC and Deputy Director of DexEU John O’Regan give their analysis of the current situation and prospects for agreeing a Brexit deal in the coming weeks, as well as the outlook beyond April 2019.

Giving the business perspective in terms of the threats and opportunities posed by the UK’s imminent departure from the EU was supply chain risk consultant Nick Wildgoose, alongside Partners from Clyde & Co, who addressed critical issues such as employment and immigration; procurement and trade; and sanctions, bribery, corruption and slavery. The event also featured animated Q&A sessions, moderated by Bloomberg’s Companies Reporter Suzi Ring.

This report summarises the key findings from the event and the recommendations for business which emerged from it.