Impact of Brexit beginning to be felt at amenity trust

BREXIT has appeared on Shetland Amenity Trust’s radar after it sought to find an alternative UK supplier for a product made in mainland Europe.

Chief executive Mat Roberts told a meeting of trustees on Friday that “Brexit is for the first time something we have had to consider for the future” when it came to supply chains.

Speaking after the meeting, Roberts said that the product being sourced was part of a commercial tender which would stretch beyond the 31 October Brexit deadline.

“This is the first time we’ve had to consider Brexit because it’s the first time we’ve been aware of the fact that a significant component has been made in mainland Europe and we’ve had to find an alternative UK supplier,” he said.

Roberts said it is possible the issue could crop up again, “because we live in a globalised world”.

“We did do work some months ago to say ‘are there any specific things that we need for the museum, or for any particular activity that we knew that could be constrained by a change in tariff, and congestion in ports’, and the answer was no,” he said.

“This was the first product. We always ask the question – that’s the most important thing that you do. If you buy nuts, bolts and screws, where do they come from?”

Roberts said the trust was unclear at the moment as to how Brexit could affect possible funding from Europe.

“Shetland and the Amenity Trust has historically been able to use European funding extensively,” he said.

“We don’t know how the government proposes to replace that European funding.”