Marks & Spencer has had to rent a warehouse just to store piles of Brexit paperwork that “nobody looked at in the first place”, the retailer’s chairman has revealed.
Archie Norman, who is also an ex-Tory MP, said “it is quite extraordinary… you wouldn’t believe it”, but that the retailer has to store thousands of pages of documents in a warehouse in the Republic of Ireland for six years after taking food across the border.
And, lashing out at the devastating financial impact Brexit has had on the beloved British firm, Mr Norman called for Sir Keir Starmer to strike a deal with the EU on food standards to “get rid of all these ridiculous restrictions on trade”.
Speaking to Times Radio last Friday, Mr Norman said: “In Ireland, our food business there, which is good business, but we don’t make much money out of it because of the border controls.
“It’s not just the 700 pages of text, we have to keep all the documentation that goes with our wagons into the Republic of Ireland for six years in a warehouse.
“So we rented a warehouse to store these bits of paper that nobody looked at in the first place. I mean, you wouldn’t believe it, but it is quite extraordinary.”
The striking intervention comes amid a bid by the prime minister to reset Britain’s post-Brexit relationship with Europe. Sir Keir is chasing closer ties with the bloc, but has so far refused to set out exactly what he wants to achieve in talks with EU leaders.
Mr Norman added to pressure on the PM to strike a veterinary deal, which would see the UK and EU recognise that their food standards are equivalent, slashing the red tape holding M&S and other firms selling in Europe back.
He said: “The objective should be to respect all those rules about (the) customs union and not rejoining the EU but to see if we can’t agree with the European Union that our food standards are equivalent and therefore we can get rid of all these ridiculous frictional restrictions on trade which stop us trading food; food which everybody enjoys between the EU and the UK.”
Mr Norman also said Brexit has forced M&S to pull out of Paris, where it was previously “probably the largest sandwich retailer”.
He said: “Before Brexit, we had quite a significant fresh food business in and around Paris in France, which generated approximately £7 million contribution for us a year. It was a good and growing business, very popular in Paris, probably the largest single sandwich retailer in Paris, a great thing for Britain.
“We had to close it down because it simply wasn’t practical to get our fresh food through French customs controls in time to get it on the shelves. So there’s definitely a £7 million negative there.”
Mr Norman’s intervention also comes after it emerged Brussels is preparing to ask the UK to follow EU laws for the first time since Brexit as part of its plans for a new deal with the UK.
While Sir Keir has repeatedly insisted the UK will not rejoin the single market within his lifetime, he has pledged to “make Brexit work” by renegotiating the deal agreed upon by Boris Johnson and pursuing closer cooperation, particularly on defence, security and trade.
A blueprint for European negotiators looking at the trade deal, seen by The Times, indicates that EU leaders are planning to make UK acceptance of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice a red line for an improved trading relationship.
The document also reportedly sets out British concessions on fishing and a youth mobility scheme as key priorities for the EU.
The document is expected to be presented to a council of European ministers next week, ahead of the start of formal talks between the UK and EU which will begin early next year
Sir Keir and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen have agreed to hold regular EU-UK leader summits, with the first set to take place in early 2025.
