Just what effect will the appliance industry see if the UK votes to leave the European Union?
In our considered opinion, not a lot to be short on the topic but we will try to explain why we think this.
For a start almost no appliances are made in the UK now and a huge quantity of the appliances sold as own label brands produced on foreign shores, a huge chunk of those producers not even located in the EU.
Sure there’s some tumble dryer production at Yate and some at White Knight in the North, a smattering of cookers at Glen Dimplex and Rangemaster but that’s about it. Currently no domestic washing machines at all are produced in the UK until Ebac gets going, if Ebac ever gets going.
So, UK manufacturing of domestic appliances is stunningly low in relation to the volume of products sold every year.
Over and above that however, a lot of the components used in what little is UK product comes from foreign shores. Much of it outside the Eurozone.
The point being that European brands and, they are all either European or more often global these days need the UK market. This as there’s not a single brand that is completely UK other than perhaps Ebac, if it ever flies.
That in turn means that these massive companies will still have to find some mechanism to ensure that their products can still be sold in the UK, whatever the outcome of the referendum may be as, they need the UK as a marketplace.
And, the UK needs them as well because so far as appliances go, the UK is not even remotely self supporting.
Job Security
For the appliance industry and those employed in it in the UK who are largely not manufacturing jobs we wouldn’t think have little to fear whatever way the UK votes on 23 June.
The appliances will still need to be sold, supported, moved about and serviced and as we point out, they are extremely unlikely to just leave the UK so we would think that those jobs are probably pretty safe. You can of course never be 100% sure but, we’re very confident in this position.
How pay and so forth will pan out is a totally different conversation and one that would be much harder to call as that’s likely to be down to decisions made for each individual company.
Busy Doing Nothing
Right now in the industry it’s as if many seem to be holding their breath, waiting to see what will happen before doing much of anything. We expect many other industries will be the same.
Companies don’t like change and if the UK votes to leave then one plan will kick in, if not, another will. Until the uncertainty is clarified there’s probably a bunch of things that will be on hold.
But on this who knows what the various companies have planned as, they’re unlikely to share in advance what they will do in the aftermath.
Effects
The effects of the June referendum therefore, in our estimation at least, will have little to no effect on the appliance industry at all.
It could affect some jobs or plans to locate elements in certain countries or the likes but, beyond that we really don’t think that anyone will notice from an industry point of view.
Whatever way this particular ball bounces though what we are sure of is that there will be unforeseen and unintended consequences that neither we nor anyone else will be able to predict.
