February 2021 Monthly Blog – Adapting your business model
That went well - don't you think?
Last month’s blog took an optimistic view of how the UK and EU seemed to be settling down to life post-Brexit, with only minor changes noted so far to a few rather specialised areas of health & safety law.
And then an almighty rumpus blew up about which countries should have first call in the pecking order of COVID vaccine deliveries. Haulage firms also fumed about transport delays at Channel ports as EU customs officials grappled with new and unfamiliar paperwork. Politicians and Brexiteers had previously promised that life after Brexit would leave businesses free to trade easily with whomsoever, but cracks are already starting to appear in those arguments – especially for small businesses.
A moving feast
Business managers will tell you that they have to grapple with a huge number of different demands on their time, health & safety being only one.
A more pressing issue at the moment for many who export to the EU concerns the sudden imposition of VAT, customs duties, and in some cases tariffs, on shipments sent to EU customers.
Under the Brexit “rules of origin” agreement, products not made in Britain, such as imports from Asia, attract tariffs when re-exported from the UK into the European market.
Many companies been left with little option but to invest in distribution networks within the EU, and the Dutch logistics industry in particular seems to be reaping the rewards.
The Netherlands has been a logistics and trading powerhouse for centuries - the world's first stock exchange was established in Amsterdam in 1602. More than 10% of the country's workforce works in logistics, and the Dutch are not only Anglophilic, but excellent English-speakers.
Netherlands logistics companies have been inundated with enquiries, while the number of British companies searching for a base in the country has doubled in the last 18 months, according to the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA). The agency has a list of more than 500 global firms considering investing in the Netherlands because of Brexit – half of which are UK companies.
Some businesses from the U.S., Canada and Japan which set up headquarters in the UK thanks to language and cultural ties, have already relocated to the EU, and the Netherlands recently celebrated the relocation of the European Medicine Agency from the U.K.
People find solutions
Staff can be remarkably adept at applying their ingenuity to work out novel solutions around problems.
If you export to the EU, your directors may come to the above conclusion – that you need to relocate some of your logistics to the Continent.
If you do relocate, any staff posted overseas, even temporarily, will face slightly different health & safety rules to what you are used to.
Although the foundations of H&S laws were harmonised throughout EU member states during the early 1990’s, differences still exist at local level and can be easy to fall foul of. For example, French workers enjoy annual medical checks even in low-risk office enterprises, whereas strict German privacy laws prohibit medical exams from discriminating against workers.
Arinite are here to help
Arinite is one of a rare number of health & safety consultancies to offer global expertise.
The Testimonials page of our website contains some client names that we have helped overseas. We can help your company understand the differences in laws between countries – not only European.
Contact us
Arinite clients appreciate we provide practical, no-nonsense advice about what you need to do to establish and maintain a safe and healthy working environment. Our team of health and safety consultants take pride in keeping health and safety simple.
If you need to call upon our expert assistance, or just for an informal chat, please call our office 0207 947 9581, or type an enquiry to: https://www.arinite.com/contact-us/.
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