The British Retail Consortium has said that UK Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit strategy is an 'ambitious plan with the right priorities', namely encouraging tariff-free trade.
The BRC said that the UK government should now take the opportunity to secure 'a win-win deal that works for the UK economy', which will see prices kept low and the EU continuing to benefit from its open trading relationship with Britain.
“This deal will take time to agree," said Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive of the BRC.
"The proposed ‘phased introduction’ must, at all costs, avoid the cliff-edge scenario – a sudden and overnight change in trading conditions that won’t benefit anyone. The number-one priority for an orderly exit should be to allow all goods traded between the EU and the UK to be in free circulation."
The BRC also welcomed May's comments about maintaining the status quo regarding EU workers in the UK.
"The government is right to signal reassurance to EU workers throughout our UK supply chains about their right to remain here," said Dickinson.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
