Hello everyone. This is a post written partly in sadness and partly in anger, so please bear with me.
The Brexit vote here in the UK, which took place in 2016 and had the majority wish to leave the EU, killed off almost all of our European business overnight. I'd say about 80% of our monthly sales were lost. And now, as of 13th December 2024, the EU will be implementing the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) directive.
This is something we, and other small businesses, only started hearing about in the last couple of weeks. It's like they're trying to sneak it in under the radar as it's not been a news item, and the government have said nothing about it, and done precisely bugger all to help.
In essence, from 13th December we will unfortunately not be able to accept orders from or post to Northern Ireland or anywhere in the EU. We are hoping that this will just be a pause in proceedings as we navigate the new convoluted regulations and see if we can work with it, or if it will ultimately prove prohibitive.
This is not something we want to do, but sadly our hands are currently tied with yet more red tape.
A lot of documentation work would be required relating to practically every aspect of every product for manufacturing, safety and traceability reasons. New product labelling requirements for each product. And most prominently, we must employ or utilise the services of a compliance agent who is based in the EU, and they will act as our legal representative for every item we sell in the EU marketplace. The last quote I heard from someone offering these services was €150 per item, which would make this a very expensive venture for a company whose stock is extensive and not static. And no, it can't be one of us or anyone based in the UK. They've got that one covered!
We have several very good Irish and EU customers so we are gutted that this is all happening, seemingly out of the blue, too.
We will keep you updated with any changes, but I just want to express my heartfelt apologies to current or potential customers who are affected by this. And also to fellow small businesses. It's another blow in this challenging retail climate that we don't need.
Thank you all.
