Since the UK declared its intention to withdraw from the EU, we have worked carefully to examine the implications and put into effect our plans to minimise potential impact on supply.  Both the UK and the EU are in the process of negotiations which is due to be signed-off by the EU and UK parliaments by the end of the year.
 
In advance of the outcome of these negotiations we have taken several steps to ensure our business continuity planning remains robust and relevant to the changing status of these negotiations. This centres on the four key areas:
 

  1. Product Availability
  2. Customs
  3. Impact on Northern Ireland
  4. Certification

 

  1. Product Availability

We are executing plans to mitigate any potential delays in imports caused by Brexit.  These plans include raw materials for locally manufactured products and products that we source from UK or import via UK as a land-bridge. To date we have:
 

  • Increased our year-end stock holdings for raw materials and products from or through the UK
  • Increased our year-end stock holding for our own finished goods and key maintenance supplies within our own warehouses
  • Sourced additional warehousing capacity off-site to cater for increased stock levels

While we are confident this will assist in mitigating the delays we would encourage customers to also maintain healthy stocks for the transition as we cannot guarantee that every product SKU required for January 2021 will be available within the usual lead-times.
 
2. Customs
We collect and import products from the UK into Ireland for distribution across Ireland. In a post Brexit environment, we will continue to collect and distribute these products throughout the island of Ireland.
Should the UK leave EU with No Deal there is potential that some of these products could be subject to an import tariff which will be identified through a Taric code. We will maintain the existing product SKUs and a full list of these product SKU’s and their Taric codes will be available on our website in the coming weeks. Should tariffs be applied we will communicate any adjustments to the purchase price as soon as we understand the impact.
 
 
3. Impact on Northern Ireland
Based on the information we have to date Northern Ireland is currently set to maintain its dual status and we will continue to supply into our NI based customers ‘Delivered at Place’ (Delivered at Place or DAP is currently the trade term of all of our deliveries. This means that the seller manages the freight and insurance to a customer’s premises but not any potential customs declarations or duties). 
 
Should this situation change, and NI customers be required to record or declare any cross-border movements with ROI we will be prepared to support that administration burden. We will have in place the technology to send advance shipping notifications detailing the products, values and Taric codes of your deliveries. We will also be equipped to support you with detailed monthly reports breaking down your purchases should you have a reporting burden to fulfil post-Brexit.  We are endeavouring to continue to meet our current customer charter promise and delivery lead-times.
 
4. Certification
We will continue to comply with CE marking regulations.  We distribute both locally manufactured and import products from the UK and Europe. Over the last number of months, we have completed tests with European accredited test houses and worked with our partners in the UK to ensure that all DOP’s for our product range comply and will be available in the event that UK test houses are not recognised.  
 
Our aim is to ensure continuous supply of all Gyproc and Isover product ranges and we will continue to work closely with you to meet the needs of the market during this period.
 
We will continue to track all new developments in these key identified areas in the coming months, to ensure our plans remain robust.