Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 8 November 2016

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Economic Impact of Brexit: Discussion (Resumed)

4:30 pm

Mr. Simon McKeever:

Many people are talking about Q1 next year as a critical time. The UK retail sector will be heading into the post-Christmas sales period and many retailers will not negotiate at the moment on price until the end of that. It is funny that sometimes when I do press interviews, I learn a lot about what the other side is worried about by the questions I am asked. I did an interview for a food magazine in the UK and I was talking about our price competitiveness position in the UK, but they are worried that the UK supermarkets will eventually have to put up prices and they will have no choice but to do that. They are all talking about the end of January and February as the time when the renegotiations may happen. The Unilever effect may force more suppliers to talk to the supermarkets in the UK. Many people in the UK are talking about the inevitability of prices having to go up in supermarkets eventually.