Marks & Spencer blames Brexit as it closes stores in France

The UK retailer on Thursday said “lengthy and complex” Brexit has heaped pressure on supply chains already strained by shortages caused by the pandemic and a resurgence in demand. The UK government on Tuesday announced that it would delay the introduction of checks on food imports from the European Union by another six months to July 2022 as supermarkets struggle to keep their shelves fully stocked. UK food producers and transportation firms have blamed the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union for worker shortages that have forced them to cut production and made it difficult to deliver goods on time. The Road Haulage Association says the United Kingdom is short around 100,000 truck drivers, 20,000 of whom are EU nationals that left the country after Brexit. M&S said it has had to change the structure of its European business as a result of Brexit. In April, it stopped selling all fresh and chilled products in the Czech Republic. It has instead doubled the ranges of frozen and non-perishable products.