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Bloomberg
UK sportswear chain JD Sports Fashion Plc said Brexit red tape has severely tested its operations and it’s opening new warehouses in the European Union to avoid the hassles of customs checks.
The UK sportswear chain said duties and disruptions from customs checks mean it’s no longer enjoying “frictionless†trading. A new 65,000 square-foot warehouse near Dublin will become operational later this year and it is looking for another site on mainland Europe for an even larger facility. In February, a spokesman said the sportswear chain was looking at sites in various countries, including the Netherlands and Germany, to meet growing online demand from European consumers.
Before Brexit, both these warehouses would likely have been located in the UK.
JD Sports already has a warehouse in Belgium but it’s relatively small and primarily used to supply its store network on the continent. The main distribution hub is in Rochdale, England, and it’s this center which is currently used for online orders from European customers. However, new trade rules since the UK left the EU mean JD Sports now faces extra costs to meet demand from its European customers.