How Brexit Has Reshaped the Fashion Industry and How to Reposition the UK As An Industry Leader

The Independent Commission on UK – EU Relations recently published research findings centring on the topic: Fashion’s Future: How Brexit Has Reshaped the Fashion Industry and How to Reposition the UK As An Industry Leader.

The Commission is a time bound research project which examines the impact of the UK departure from the European Union, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the Windsor Framework. Authors include: Professor Tamara Cincik, Alix Coombs and Michelle Kazi, from the Fashion Roundtable.

The UK fashion sector covers manufacturing, wholesale, retail and services, generating a turnover of £109.9 billion in the past year. It’s a long-established industry that can make a huge difference to local employment and the economy. However, since Brexit the sector has been presented with a range of challenges including: Complicated customs procedures, tariffs, increased operational costs and talent shortages.

The commission states: ‘Brexit has fundamentally altered the UK fashion industry, with red tape now affecting the industry’s ability to compete on the world stage in an era marked by trade complexities, disrupted supply chains, and constrained talent flows with the EU.’

‘For smaller fashion businesses, these new logistical hurdles are existential threats. Kate Hills of Make It British noted that “shipping goods to the EU has become a near-impossible task for small businesses due to prohibitive charges and endless paperwork.”

The report draws on extensive research and consultations between 2018 to 2024 from a broad range of stakeholders including Fashion-Enter Ltd. The findings reflect a bleak picture with businesses stating they could no longer trade with the EU, that new talent and skilled workforce members have been severely diminished, and sales and trade have declined to the point of having to move or close their business.

Industry voices have made their concerns clear and have proposed the following recommendations:

• Improved trade and customs agreements

• Enhanced mobility for creatives and youth

• Reinstatement of the VAT retail export scheme

• Enhanced support for SMEs

• Increased domestic production and alternative market opportunities

Fashion-Enter Ltd’s Founder and CEO Jenny Holloway comments: “This commission reflects the reality of what the industry has been going through since leaving the EU. In 2019 industry colleagues and I have voiced our concerns and recommendations to government, now, post Brexit, Covid and economic downturn we are in 2024 and it seems, a lot of talk with very little action. The industry is now in dire need of supportive strategy from government to ensure it survives and adapts.”