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With Brexit, which is three years old, the new procedures and increased bureaucracy to import goods and products to the United Kingdom, as well as to export them, have complicated international trade with Great Britain and skyrocketed the prices of different industries. France 24 spoke to two affected merchants at different levels.
It is early morning at the Flower Market in London. The low winter temperatures in England are graced by a subtle but enveloping aroma.
Here, before 5:00 am, a frenzy starts between wholesalers and customers who want to make sure of the most beautiful and colorful flowers that have traveled across different continents to reach the British capital.
The Colombian Alejandro Uribe has been an importer of Ecuadorian and Colombian flowers to the United Kingdom for 25 years. He acknowledges that it is a stressful job, especially now, three years after Britain left the European Union.
Brexit has been like a new thorn that appeared on the flowers.
“Bringing all this flower, at least the Colombian part, has been complicated. Before we could bring a single office, it entered a single market and was distributed from there. The logistics are much more complex, the paperwork has increased, there are already two markets”, says Uribe.
The trader assures that the prices of imports of South American flowers have risen by 20%.
“Prices have gone up because it is more work. Before we had to have only one winery. Today we must have two, before we could make a large office. Today we have to do several small offices. Also, as the pound sterling has devalued, that increases the cost of an importer”, he explains.
During the interview with France 24, the Colombian highlights that the time before Valentine’s Day is the busiest for both flower growers and flower importers.
“It seems more difficult to bring things to France than to the United States”
For his part, and in another area of London, Mark Brearley, the owner of the Kaymet company, carefully checks that shipments of trays and other aluminum objects are impeccable.
Kaymet is a traditional brand founded 76 years ago in London, whose 40 percent of production is sold in Europe. In 2020, the late Queen Elizabeth awarded this company.
After three years, Brearley has seen nothing but complications in her business. The change has not been subtle.
“Before Brexit, it was simple, it was like sending something to the next town in England. Nothing to do, no procedure. So where it used to take a day or two to send something to, say, Paris or Berlin, now it can take weeks and in some cases months, and often we get the goods back and it costs everyone more,” he says.
With the United Kingdom being outside the Single Market and European customs, exporting has become a “nightmare” for this family business.
“In theory, shipping to other European countries is now the same as shipping to the rest of the world, which we also do a lot, but it seems to be even more difficult. It seems more difficult to get things to France than to the United States or South Korea or, you know, other strong export markets. I don’t know why, but it seems to be more difficult,” says Mark Brearley.
