GUILD TALK
View from HQ
By John Farrand managing director
ANTHONY CRESWELL UTTERED my favourite line of 2020. When interviewed for the Great Taste Book having scooped the Golden Fork from Ireland, he proclaimed: “We try to produce the best; we don’t try to produce the most.” Anthony’s family business, Ummera, cures and smokes excellent smoked salmon in Ireland. That’s great if you live on the Emerald Isle – as of January this
news from the guild of fine food year he has ceased to export. No prizes for guessing why. The stories of import and export woe since the beginning of the year have filled my inbox: customs charges as much as the cost of the consignment itself, entire boatloads of fish rejected because the paperwork states, ‘UK’ instead of ‘GB’, the list goes on. Defra is working hard to inform the industry with webinars and websites, but it’s trickier for smaller retailers and producers to digest, as they don’t have the time or the people to organise vets, fill in the POAO forms or decipher a phytosanitary declaration. It will, no doubt, be all right in the end. But how long before the customs agents get it and the ports find some
I don’t want the UK to return to the ’70s and ’80s, when we had a reputation for producing rather soulless food
The Word on Westminster By Edward Woodall ACS
WITH THE BUDGET on the horizon, all focus is on what policy measures the Chancellor is considering. What is becoming increasingly clear is this is not a business-as-usual Budget, we should expect to see a range of short-term measures that focus on helping businesses and individuals to make it through the ongoing impact of the pandemic. There is both a political and economic benefit to this shortterm approach to the Budget. The government will have more time and economic data to inform their policy response; while the vaccine rollout has been a success, there is uncertainty about how quickly the UK economy will bounce back. Politically, the government has
more time to ponder and build support for their fiscal response that will inevitably involve some tough fiscal decisions, including tax rises. But there is also a price to pay for delay, especially concerning structural change to taxes like business rates that have long hampered high streets. The Chancellor appears likely to extend rates reliefs for businesses in some form but has postponed more fundamental reform. While a few months’ wait may not seem long this is a compounding delay – Government has been running reviews and pushing back reform since 2011. This matters because, if we want to accelerate the recovery from COVID, we need a tax system that incentivises investment and gives business the confidence to grow again. Reforms to rates are also
consistency in what they charge, allow, or reject? I’m concerned that the only winners here will be larger food producers and retailers who have the resources to overcome it. Smaller, makers and sellers will be hamstrung by import and export chaos and, quite frankly, will give up. And removing that colour from our food scene scares me. I don’t want the UK to return to where it was in the ’70s and ’80s. A time when we had a reputation for producing rather soulless food and drink, without regional variation, provenance, or personality. We were known for overdone roast beef and beans on toast. How many food tourists did we get then? I’m no idiot. There is a place and need for mass production but by not helping our nation’s artisans to continue to trade internationally, we are accidentally underpinning the larger-scale production that isn’t going to uphold the global and credible food reputation we have all worked hard to achieve over the last 30 years. And then no one will want to buy our food and drink anyway. needed to address the growing inequality between purely online retailers and high street retailers. It looks like the Treasury is realising that a new approach is needed to tax online businesses and, in turn, reduce the burden on physical retailers trading in communities. The speed of delivery is also key given current circumstance and the acceleration of consumer shopping habits. In our evidence to the Treasury and our engagement with parliamentarians, we have made clear that reform to rates is essential for the provision of services in communities. This means reducing the overall burden of rates, levelling the playing field with online retailers and targeting support for businesses delivering essential services in communities. Edward Woodall is head of policy & public affairs at small shops group ACS edward.woodall@acs.org.uk
Retailer promotion The Guild’s Great Taste retailer promotion closes for applications on 5th March. This in-store promotion is open to any independent retailer wanting to shine a light on the winners they stock. There’s a full merchandising pack with point-of-sale material, Great Taste Books to give away and a constructive guide to holding promotions. Shops are encouraged to join in the Instagram competition using #GreatTasteRetailer21 and tagging @guildoffinefood to be in the running to win a photographer for a day. Contact stephanie.harewinton@gff.co.uk
We're here to help Retail members will have received an email to introduce their point of contact at Guild HQ. This new initiative will give each member a specific person to help make the most of the resources available to them as part of the membership. It is also an opportunity to raise issues pertinent to your shop.
Working for you Alongside leading business organisations, the Guild continues to represent food and drink SMEs on various Defra panels. That engagement bore fruit on 11th February as Michael Gove announced a £20 million SME Brexit Support Fund to aid adjustment to new customs, rules of origin, and VAT rules when trading with the EU. www.gff.co.uk/brexit-whatyou-need-to-know
The Guild of Fine Food represents fine food shops and specialist suppliers. Want to join them? GENERAL ENQUIRIES Guild of Fine Food Guild House, 23b Kingsmead Business Park, Shaftesbury Road, Gillingham, Dorset SP8 5FB UK Tel: +44 (0) 1747 825200 Fax: +44 (0) 1747 824065 info@gff.co.uk gff.co.uk
THE GUILD TEAM: Managing director: John Farrand Marketing director: Tortie Farrand Sales director: Sally Coley Operations director: Christabel Cairns
Sales manager: Ruth Debnam Sales executives: Becky Haskett Sam Coleman Membership, circulation & awards manager: Karen Price Operations manager: Claire Powell
Operations assistant: Meredith White Events manager: Stephanie HareWinton Events assistant: Sophie Brentnall Financial controller: Stephen Guppy Accounts manager: Denise Ballance
gff.co.uk Accounts assistant: Julie Coates Chairman: Bob Farrand Director: Linda Farrand
Vol.22 Issue 2 | March 2021
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