Ballymena: Northern Ireland -Irwin Armstrong, former chairman boris johnsonThe Conservative Party in Northern Ireland, the British prime minister, has a simple message when it comes to the province’s unique post-Brexit trade rules: don’t waste a good thing.
Founder of rapid test diagnostics maker CIGA Healthcare, which campaigned to leave the UK The European Union six years ago, described the so-called northern Ireland Protocol as a gamechanger for manufacturing businesses like them.
Under the protocol, part of the UK withdrawal agreement from the EU, Northern Ireland effectively remained in the EU’s single market for goods as the rest of the United Kingdom (UK) left last year.
Since then, CIGA has won trade from British exporters tied in paperwork, expanding into new EU markets and doubling sales across the open border with EU member Ireland.
Armstrong called the arrangements at his Ballymena factory a “win-win situation”, saying, “My message to Boris Johnson on the protocol is ‘settle what needs to be resolved and leave the rest alone’.”
However, the protocol is not universally popular.
It was intended to avoid a land border with the Irish Republic, which many would see as a violation of the spirit of a peace agreement signed 24 years earlier, which ended three decades of violence between predominantly Catholic nationalists, Demanding unity with Ireland and wanting to remain part of the Protestant federalists. Britain.
But the notion that, by placing an effective border in the Irish Sea, the protocol is destroying Northern Ireland’s place in the UK, has sparked anger among many pro-British federalists, who Britain says were in conflict with the 1998 peace agreement. weakening as well.
Johnson has promised to scrap large parts of the protocol within months if he can’t convince the European Union to remove checks on goods going into Northern Ireland from the rest of Britain.
bureaucratic constraints
Northern Irish business groups have urged London not to act unilaterally, fearing a trade war with the EU could snatch new competitive advantage firms such as Armstrong’s Anand. They want both parties to agree to ease checks affecting other consumer-facing firms.
In pre-protocol it took seven days for Linas Foodservice, a major supplier of food in Northern Ireland, to order a product such as mozzarella cheese from its usual British supplier. Now this can take up to 14 days and requires eight different paperwork.
The longer run means that the Coleraine-based wholesaler must have more working capital – £11 million versus £10 million earlier. British suppliers also charge more per pallet for the hassle on their end, with the cost being passed on to retailers.
Linas has stopped doing business with 13 of the nearly 200 British suppliers it previously relied on, and is sourcing more goods from Ireland and shipping others through Dublin to avoid some bureaucratic trade barriers. doing.
Managing director Andrew Linas said, “I’m fine in a business with 650 employees to add to that cost and work with our customers, but I think it’s definitely been more difficult for a lot of smaller businesses. ”
two-speed economy
Recent data shows that, along with London, Northern Ireland is the only region in the UK where economic growth has surpassed pre-pandemic levels, giving some suggestion of a protocol-fueled economic boom.
Ulster Bank’s chief economist for Northern Ireland, Richard Ramsey, says it is not so straightforward as the economy went into the Covid-19 pandemic in a state weaker than the rest of the UK and with one-fourth of the record government spending benefited unequally. People employed in public service.
“The protocol is presented almost as binary, it’s either great or it’s terrible and needs to be done away with,” Ramsey said. “The reality is there are good parts and a lot of gray areas that still have to be ironed out.”
For now it has created a two-speed economy, he says, with sectors such as food manufacturing and pharmaceuticals booming at a time when May’s economic surveys show the cost of living crisis will cost Northern Ireland more than most of the UK. making comparison difficult.
In the small town of Maghera, Michael McGrath, owner of Crushing Screening Parts (CSP), says the “good parts” of the protocol are directly responsible for a 32% year-over-year jump in revenue and adding more to his workforce of eight. are planning. ,
Looking at a screen where potential customers in Poland and Germany are browsing the CSP website, which emphasizes the benefits of the protocol in capital letters, McGraw says he can give them a share until the next morning, while it’s a rival. It may take at least two to three days for the British supplier.
As a result, the proportion of manufacturer’s sales of spare parts for the mine sector going to the European Union has more than tripled to 33%. The solution to the protocol puzzle for McGrath lies in the famous words of Bill Clinton 30 years ago: “This economy is stupid”.
“For Northern Ireland to be successful, it is about the economy,” he said. “The economy can do really well if the protocol is implemented properly and to a level that we can all live with.”
Founder of rapid test diagnostics maker CIGA Healthcare, which campaigned to leave the UK The European Union six years ago, described the so-called northern Ireland Protocol as a gamechanger for manufacturing businesses like them.
Under the protocol, part of the UK withdrawal agreement from the EU, Northern Ireland effectively remained in the EU’s single market for goods as the rest of the United Kingdom (UK) left last year.
Since then, CIGA has won trade from British exporters tied in paperwork, expanding into new EU markets and doubling sales across the open border with EU member Ireland.
Armstrong called the arrangements at his Ballymena factory a “win-win situation”, saying, “My message to Boris Johnson on the protocol is ‘settle what needs to be resolved and leave the rest alone’.”
However, the protocol is not universally popular.
It was intended to avoid a land border with the Irish Republic, which many would see as a violation of the spirit of a peace agreement signed 24 years earlier, which ended three decades of violence between predominantly Catholic nationalists, Demanding unity with Ireland and wanting to remain part of the Protestant federalists. Britain.
But the notion that, by placing an effective border in the Irish Sea, the protocol is destroying Northern Ireland’s place in the UK, has sparked anger among many pro-British federalists, who Britain says were in conflict with the 1998 peace agreement. weakening as well.
Johnson has promised to scrap large parts of the protocol within months if he can’t convince the European Union to remove checks on goods going into Northern Ireland from the rest of Britain.
bureaucratic constraints
Northern Irish business groups have urged London not to act unilaterally, fearing a trade war with the EU could snatch new competitive advantage firms such as Armstrong’s Anand. They want both parties to agree to ease checks affecting other consumer-facing firms.
In pre-protocol it took seven days for Linas Foodservice, a major supplier of food in Northern Ireland, to order a product such as mozzarella cheese from its usual British supplier. Now this can take up to 14 days and requires eight different paperwork.
The longer run means that the Coleraine-based wholesaler must have more working capital – £11 million versus £10 million earlier. British suppliers also charge more per pallet for the hassle on their end, with the cost being passed on to retailers.
Linas has stopped doing business with 13 of the nearly 200 British suppliers it previously relied on, and is sourcing more goods from Ireland and shipping others through Dublin to avoid some bureaucratic trade barriers. doing.
Managing director Andrew Linas said, “I’m fine in a business with 650 employees to add to that cost and work with our customers, but I think it’s definitely been more difficult for a lot of smaller businesses. ”
two-speed economy
Recent data shows that, along with London, Northern Ireland is the only region in the UK where economic growth has surpassed pre-pandemic levels, giving some suggestion of a protocol-fueled economic boom.
Ulster Bank’s chief economist for Northern Ireland, Richard Ramsey, says it is not so straightforward as the economy went into the Covid-19 pandemic in a state weaker than the rest of the UK and with one-fourth of the record government spending benefited unequally. People employed in public service.
“The protocol is presented almost as binary, it’s either great or it’s terrible and needs to be done away with,” Ramsey said. “The reality is there are good parts and a lot of gray areas that still have to be ironed out.”
For now it has created a two-speed economy, he says, with sectors such as food manufacturing and pharmaceuticals booming at a time when May’s economic surveys show the cost of living crisis will cost Northern Ireland more than most of the UK. making comparison difficult.
In the small town of Maghera, Michael McGrath, owner of Crushing Screening Parts (CSP), says the “good parts” of the protocol are directly responsible for a 32% year-over-year jump in revenue and adding more to his workforce of eight. are planning. ,
Looking at a screen where potential customers in Poland and Germany are browsing the CSP website, which emphasizes the benefits of the protocol in capital letters, McGraw says he can give them a share until the next morning, while it’s a rival. It may take at least two to three days for the British supplier.
As a result, the proportion of manufacturer’s sales of spare parts for the mine sector going to the European Union has more than tripled to 33%. The solution to the protocol puzzle for McGrath lies in the famous words of Bill Clinton 30 years ago: “This economy is stupid”.
“For Northern Ireland to be successful, it is about the economy,” he said. “The economy can do really well if the protocol is implemented properly and to a level that we can all live with.”