Brexit and the UK chemical supply chain: A commentary on potential effects

Businesses assume that in the developed countries, political stability is guaranteed. However, the result of the British referendum (June 2016) has shifty altered the political arena and introduced an era of uncertainty and volatility, referred to as ‘Brexit’. The UK chemical industry and its supply chain need to respond and changes might be in order. The routes to market could well be changing and there appears to be a shift towards chemical distribution; particularly towards official and appointed chemical distributors rather than direct business and/or non-exclusive distributors/agents. The newly-emerging market conditions also demand flexibility and adaptability, pointing in the direction of small businesses (SMEs) rather than their larger counterparts. Nevertheless, as these are the early stages of this process/phenomenon, it is difficult to ascertain whether the initial effects would be of a permanent or temporary nature until a state of equilibrium is reached in the market.