M&S shutters French franchise outlets as post-Brexit measures impact fresh & chilled food trade

17 Sep 2021 --- Marks & Spencer (M&S) will be closing its 11 franchise stores with partner SFH in France over the coming months. The move was prompted by trade difficulties amid the UK’s process of implementing new post-Brexit border control measures, which have disrupted the exports of fresh and chilled products.

Located predominantly across the high streets of Paris, the stores are expected to close by the end of this year.

“As outlined at our full year results in May this year, the lengthy and complex export processes now in place following the UK’s exit from the EU are significantly constraining the supply of fresh and chilled product from the UK into Europe and continuing to impact product availability for customers and the performance of our business in France,” and M&S spokesperson tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

Supply chain weighed down
This latest announcement by the high-end grocery is the latest change following the reconfiguration of its food business in Czech Republic. The company discontinued the sale of all fresh and chilled products from stores, and instead doubled its ranges of frozen and ambient products.

“This removed the ongoing supply chain risks to our business, and the knock-on impact on limiting availability for customers in our stores. Since the changes took place in April, business performance continues to be ahead of expectations and availability of products has remained consistent,” the spokesperson remarks.

Located predominantly across the high streets of Paris, the stores are expected to close by the end of the year. (Credit: M&S)Meanwhile, M&S’ nine franchise stores with other partner Lagardere Travel Retail continue to trade and both parties continue to work closely on a sustainable future business model.

M&S and Lagardere Travel Retail are holding talks on a sustainable future business model for the nine stores run by Lagardere, which will continue to do business as normal in travel hubs such as airports, railway and metro stations.

“M&S has a long history of serving customers in France and this is not a decision we or our partner SFH have taken lightly,” says Paul Friston, managing director international at M&S.

“The supply chain complexities in place following the UK’s exit from the EU, now make it near impossible for us to serve fresh and chilled products to customers to the high standards they expect, resulting in an ongoing impact to the performance of our business,” he stresses.

“With no workable alternative for the high street stores, we have agreed with SFH to close all 11 franchized stores.”

Small wins for traders post-Brexit
Even considering these blanket issues, British food has seen small wins following Brexit, particularly in the alcoholic beverage sector. Last July, UK ministers pledged to cut red tape for British wine importers, saving local consumers up to £130 million (US$178.8 million) a year, according to government-published estimates.

In the same month, the UK government also exempted food industry supply chain workers from self-isolation rules that have contributed greatly to the labor shortage issue, in the wake of growing concerns about empty supermarket shelves.

By Benjamin Ferrer