Government red tape | SHOPFLOOR ANALYSIS
BUREAUCRACY
COUNTING THE COST OF
As if the current economic conditions and cost-of-living crisis aren’t challenging enough, KBB retailers are also battling against local and central government legislation. Andrew Vaux sheds light on the obstacles they face
T
here’s no doubt that in today’s competitive marketplace, KBB retailers face a host of challenges.
Not only do they have to invest heavily in marketing to stay ahead of the competition and stand out to price-savvy customers, but they also face challenges caused by an unstable economy, which has led to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. In the recent kbbreview Retail Survey 2024 – our biggest ever survey into the confidence, opinions, and mind-set of the independent KBB retail sector – we asked retailers what the biggest challenges facing their businesses were, and the top choice was surprisingly not KBB-specific.
In fact, it was the ‘wider economy.’ A fifth (20%)
of retailers chose this as their top concern, followed closely (18%) by decreasing footfall and enquiries,
March 2024 •
and clients taking a long time to reach a final decision (14%).
But if these economic challenges aren’t enough,
there are also challenges caused by ongoing changes in local and central government legislation. One of these is the ongoing fallout from Brexit.
Joanna Geddes, design director at Kitchens by JS Geddes in Kilmarnock, says Brexit is affect ing her business in many ways. She says: “We had to invest a lot of time setting up to import from abroad, as most of the products we use are imported. Also, the taxation on these goods has been a charge and indeed a cost to the end consumer. Overall cost of the kitchen has been inflated. “Also, we’re seeing builders struggle to employ new tradesmen, as many returned ‘home’ during Brexit. This makes timescales difficult for us.”
Angus Kerr, director of The Bathroom Company in Edinburgh, has also been impacted by Brexit. He comments: “There’s absolutely no doubt that
Brexit has had a very negative impact on the service we receive from some, but not all, of our continental suppliers. The larger suppliers that are supplying through distributors are still providing a good service, however we’re finding that ceramics are the most affected area. “Pre-Brexit, a lorry could leave the UK, travel to Spain or Italy then return to the UK fully loaded within a three- or four-day period. This can now be as slow as three weeks, with containers sitting at the dock waiting to clear customs.” He adds: “We’ve also been priced out of quoting for business within the EU. For example, we have many clients who have second homes in
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