Latest news with #CheshireCheeseCompany
BBC News
22-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Derbyshire cheese-maker calls EU deal 'a major leap forward'
A cheese-maker who says he lost £600,000 of business due to Brexit has called the prime minister's new EU deal a "major leap fowards" for his company's hopes of re-entering the European Spurell, director of Hartington Creamery in Derbyshire, said Boris Johnson's hard Brexit deal in 2020 meant nearly £250,000 of sales revenue disappeared "overnight".He told the BBC he was later forced to sell his other "unviable" business, Cheshire Cheese Company, in November 57 year-old said the new deal, if signed and fully implemented, was "something that should have been in place since day one". "I'm really pleased that this will help small British producers be able to go back into the European market," Mr Spurell said. Since Brexit, UK goods travelling to the EU, including food products like Mr Spurrell's cheese, have faced new robust checks and extra deal meant veterinary certificates were needed on red meat and poultry, as well as milk and cream EU interpreted the deal as a departure from the agreed "dynamic alignment" on food standards, which resulted in smaller businesses having to pay more money to get their products into Spurrell, who lives in Rushton Spencer, on the Derbyshire-Cheshire border, said he had to pay £160 per veterinary certification on all retail orders in Europe - even for cheese orders worth £ 2021 - the first year of Brexit trading operations - he says he lost £240,000 in wholesale and consumer business in Europe for both Hartington Creamery and Cheshire Cheese Company. "As there was no exemption in place for the consumer in the 2020 deal, we lost distribution deals in France, Germany and Austria," he said.A further loss of £350,000 the following year prompted Mr Spurrell to sell his business to Joseph Heler Ltd, a larger cheese maker in Nantwich, Spurrell said Cheshire Cheese Company was sold because it was "more attractive to buy" than his smaller artisan Hartington Creamery business."The very bureaucratic form-filling and extra costs, such as veterinary checks and longer border checks was an overnight disaster and put small UK businesses at a significant commercial disadvantage," he said."We've lost out on £1m-1.5m worth of potential revenue from the EU and that Brexit deal utterly smashed businesses' opportunities to expand into Europe dead." Now the EU and UK have agreed to work on a joint food safety agreement that could remove many of the current signed and fully implemented, it should reduce paperwork, ease checks, and could even lift bans on products like raw the deal comes with UK will need to follow future EU food standards – the "dynamic alignment" system – and accept that the European Court of Justice will have the final say in any disputes in this UK will also have to make a financial contribution. However it is currently unknown how much this will be and when it will be required. Hartington Creamery's co-founder and managing director Robert Gosling, said he was feeling "optimistic" about the new deal."The orginal Brexit deal was more complicated and had endless paperwork," he said."Any change should bring opportunity so we will have to wait but it should make things better for us."Mr Spurrell said: "I'm really pleased we are now having grown-up conversations that will lead to some quick transitions into a new trading partnership."The new dynamic alignment of food standards is a major leap forward and it's something that should have been in place since day one."He said he was now "fully focused" on getting his Derbyshire business back trading with Europe."Me and Robert have been building up the Hartington brand and hopefully now we can expand into Europe further with this new deal," he said."I would like to see us go back into the EU market without the overheads that have been restrictive in the past."
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UK cheesemaker welcomes new EU deal – but says it comes four years too late
A British cheese maker who was forced to sell his business because of a £600,000 loss caused by Brexit red tape has welcomed the new deal with Brussels – but says it comes four years too late. Simon Spurrell, who made headlines when he highlighted prohibitive export costs after the UK's exit from the single market, said he was delighted the 'grownups are back in the room' and he will now consider relaunching his business as long as the details are confirmed. 'It is good news but we could have had this from day one. It is just such a shame it has taken so long, we could have had this in 2020,' he said. His company's business model was upended overnight under the hard Brexit deal sealed by Boris Johnson with 20% of sales revenue disappearing immediately. The former prime minister decided to reject the EU's offer of a Swiss deal obviating the need for veterinary certification on food including red meat, poultry and shellfish because it would have meant the UK aligning itself with EU rules. A version of the Swiss deal, with most sanitary and phytosanitary checks eliminated, is now back on the table, with hopes it can be concluded within a year. Brexit meant Spurrell faced charges of £180 per veterinary certification on retail orders on the continent, even for cheese packs worth just £35. Initially Spurrell, who had committed to a £1m expansion for his growing Cheshire Cheese Company, tried to get around the new trade barriers considering warehousing cheese on the continent. But the costs were prohibitive and he sold to a larger business who had a distribution centre in the Netherlands and a legal entity to export to in Germany. 'They were exporting to themselves but it still meant the UK was losing out. They have to pay 5% of corporate tax and 20% VAT to the Germans and the transport costs have to be paid to the Dutch, so margins are tight. This deal potentially does away with that but we have to wait to see if it includes no checks for orders from individual customers,' he said. Even if not, this is huge news for small and medium-sized businesses, he said. 'Our biggest consumer market, 27 neighbouring countries that we lost, is open again. It is the small producers that lost out from Brexit. The biggest companies and supermarket chains were able to shoulder the costs. 'Now we can stop fishing in this small pond and cast our net wider again. Everybody has been waiting for this to happen. Just thank heavens the grownups are back in the room instead of people trying to make the EU to be the bad guys when it is the British government who cut us out of the market in the first place and rejected the original SPS deal.' He added: 'All the Tories were interested in was soundbites and sabre-rattling, not British business.' In 2021, the first year of Brexit trading operations, Spurrell lost £240,000 in wholesale and consumer business in Europe and was looking at another hold of £350,000 the following year before deciding to sell up. He said the alliance with Joseph Heler, a much larger concern, offered strategic means of dealing with costly Brexit trade barriers. 'If you are large enough you can mitigate the increased costs because the cost of the paperwork for one pallet of cheese can be spread across 100 pallets. It will also benefit all the customers in the EU because they can get a local delivery rate,' he added. Spurrell said the deal, which was undertaken for an undisclosed sum, was also great news for his workforce. All head office, production and warehouse staff will be retained while 14 additional full and part-time jobs will be created.
The Guardian
20-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
UK cheesemaker welcomes new EU deal – but says it comes four years too late
A British cheese maker who was forced to sell his business because of a £600,000 loss caused by Brexit red tape has welcomed the new deal with Brussels – but says it comes four years too late. Simon Spurrell, who made headlines when he highlighted prohibitive export costs after the UK's exit from the single market, said he was delighted the 'grownups are back in the room' and he will now consider relaunching his business as long as the details are confirmed. 'It is good news but we could have had this from day one. It is just such a shame it has taken so long, we could have had this in 2020,' he said. His company's business model was upended overnight under the hard Brexit deal sealed by Boris Johnson with 20% of sales revenue disappearing immediately. The former prime minister decided to reject the EU's offer of a Swiss deal obviating the need for veterinary certification on food including red meat, poultry and shellfish because it would have meant the UK aligning itself with EU rules. A version of the Swiss deal, with most sanitary and phytosanitary checks eliminated, is now back on the table, with hopes it can be concluded within a year. Brexit meant Spurrell faced charges of £180 per veterinary certification on retail orders on the continent, even for cheese packs worth just £35. Initially Spurrell, who had committed to a £1m expansion for his growing Cheshire Cheese Company, tried to get around the new trade barriers considering warehousing cheese on the continent. But the costs were prohibitive and he sold to a larger business who had a distribution centre in the Netherlands and a legal entity to export to in Germany. 'They were exporting to themselves but it still meant the UK was losing out. They have to pay 5% of corporate tax and 20% VAT to the Germans and the transport costs have to be paid to the Dutch, so margins are tight. This deal potentially does away with that but we have to wait to see if it includes no checks for orders from individual customers,' he said. Even if not, this is huge news for small and medium-sized businesses, he said. 'Our biggest consumer market, 27 neighbouring countries that we lost, is open again. It is the small producers that lost out from Brexit. The biggest companies and supermarket chains were able to shoulder the costs. 'Now we can stop fishing in this small pond and cast our net wider again. Everybody has been waiting for this to happen. Just thank heavens the grownups are back in the room instead of people trying to make the EU to be the bad guys when it is the British government who cut us out of the market in the first place and rejected the original SPS deal.' He added: 'All the Tories were interested in was soundbites and sabre-rattling, not British business.' In 2021, the first year of Brexit trading operations, Spurrell lost £240,000 in wholesale and consumer business in Europe and was looking at another hold of £350,000 the following year before deciding to sell up. He said the alliance with Joseph Heler, a much larger concern, offered strategic means of dealing with costly Brexit trade barriers. 'If you are large enough you can mitigate the increased costs because the cost of the paperwork for one pallet of cheese can be spread across 100 pallets. It will also benefit all the customers in the EU because they can get a local delivery rate,' he added. Spurrell said the deal, which was undertaken for an undisclosed sum, was also great news for his workforce. All head office, production and warehouse staff will be retained while 14 additional full and part-time jobs will be created.
