The boss of John Lewis issued a bleak warning about the impact of a no-deal Brexit today as he unveiled the first loss in the firm’s 155-year history.
Chairman Sir Charlie Mayfield said that he expected the effect of Britain leaving the EU without a deal on October 31 “to be significant” for the department store and Waitrose supermarket group.
He told the Standard: “The two biggest impacts on us are fresh food supply and consumer confidence. We sell a lot of fresh produce, if we haven’t got it we can’t sell it. If you are seeing stuff on the news about queues and shortages, are you going to go and splash out £1,500 on a widescreen TV? The answer is probably no.”
He added: “In readiness we have ensured our financial resilience and taken steps to increase our foreign currency hedging, to build stock where that is sensible, and to improve customs readiness.”
Britain’s biggest partnership fell £25.9 million into the red in the first six months of the year, although it is still expected to make a profit for the financial year.
Ian Wright, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, which represents Britain’s food manufacturing sector, said a no-deal Brexit would spark “a grisly crisis”, with “significant and adverse changes to product availability, and random shortages”. He added: “Government must be upfront about the chaos a no-deal Brexit would bring.”
