Marks and Spencer has been forced to hire a warehouse to store post-Brexit paperwork needed for exports to the Republic of Ireland.
The retailer has 16 stores in the Republic and also sells products at some Applegreen petrol forecourts.
It has resulted in a deluge of paper forms needed to ship goods into the EU after Britain left the customs union in 2020.
Shortly after the UK’s split with the EU, Marks and Spencer revealed that Brexit was costing the company over £16 million in tariffs, administration and supply chain expenses.
The supermarket and clothing chain published the figures as part of its annual financial results document, titled “Never The Same Again – Forging A Reshaped M&S”.
M&S pointed to supply chain costs at the Motherwell depot, for exports to Ireland, and Faversham depot for exports to the EU.
Costs associated to the digital track and trace platform, additional variable cost per tray, veterinary certification costs and one-off costs of change were also cited in the report, as were tariffs related to duty on exports of Clothing & Home and elements of the Food catalogue into the EU.
In addition, the Group saw adverse trade impacts including the restriction of trade on certain products, port delays and increased operational complexity reducing availability.
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