NEWS EXTRA: CONFERENCE REPORT NEWS EXTRA


NEWS EXTRA NEWS EXTRA: CONFERENCE REPORT A: CONFERENCE REPORT


“THE UK IS OPEN FOR


W


ith negotiations still


dragging


on, Brexit has brought about a lot of uncertainty


for r etailers and suppliers in the home impr ovement industry speculation continues over what sort of deal the UK will emerge with and how it will affect international trading. Although news coverage on Br exit often seems bleak, Clive Daley of CFD Strategic Solutions lead his talk hoping to of fer a mor e a


dustry y,, as


positive take on the UK’s upcoming exit fr om the Eur opean Union.


positive take on the UK’s upcoming He began: “So, first, let’s just step


on the UK’s upcoming


back in time. The date is 23r d June 2016, 5am, and I’m getting up for a flight to Cologne to see a German client. And then I looked at the r eport and saw the vote and I have to say I was shocked, businesses wer e shocked, the world wa s shocked, and the UK government wer e shocked.


“And, what didn’t help was that, on this occasion, I hadn’t actually thought of this eventuality; hadn’t


CFD Strategic Solutions director Clive Dale y spoke at the Global DIY Summit in Barcelona last month about Brexit and its impact on the UK DIY market. Kiran Grewal reports.


“THE UK IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS”


thought what I would do that day if that was the outcome.


“Note to oneself: always think of the unpredictable elements so that you’re not on the back foot. Suffice to say that the rest of that day was negatively impacted, and I knew it was as soon as I got to Cologne, and I was at the bureau de change and the man on the desk said ‘what have y ou done?!’.


‘What have I


done?’ I thought to myself, ‘I’m just going to work’, but of course I knew what he meant – the world had changed.


Uncharted Territor Te Uncharted Territory


Throughout his presentation Mr Daley took delegates through a series of quotes from leaders in business in the industry, and alsoy,, and talked thr ough some of the impact of the vote we have seen alr eady “Remember we’re not out of the EU yet,” he said. “But some of those impacts, and along the way some practical solutions, because that’s what I’m all about: practical solutions about what businesses can do during this journey We


dy y. way y..”


He continued: “W e’ve had issues in the UK before sur e, like r ecession – was I the only one who had a shiver down my back when I said the word ‘r ecession’? But we’ve dealt with things in the past, but we haven’t been her e befor e. So does the UK government have a plan, does it have a negotiation strategy? Is it building that leverage within the negotiation to win? Ar e the right people ar ound the negotiation? “All of this is up for a huge You’ll be pleased


e’ve had is amount of debate. Yo ou’ll be ple ou ll be ple


to know I’m not going to be a politician today, I’m not going toy,, be a columnist, and I’m not going to be a fortune teller . But I am a business optimist and I want you to take away a mor e positive view of Br exit because we’ve had enough negativity lately


I’m not goin y..”


“Here’s the r eality: businesses didn’t trade with the UK just because we were in the EU, it’s because the UK is a strong market. Yes, sure, it is a challenging market, it is a competitive market. I spoke


Ye y,,


10


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