Don’t Blame It On The Sunshine

Don’t blame it on the sunshine, don’t blame it on the moonlight, don’t blame it on the good times…..blame it on the Brexit.

 

As the Brexit negotiations, spin, pointless predicting, more spin and a load of Westminster waffle engulfs us for the next 2 years, it is becoming more and more evident that there is a readymade excuse for anyone that encounters commercial hardships……blame it on the Brexit.

 

Sham-pain

Last month France’s main champagne industry body attributed a dip in sales in 2016 to the weak pound reducing British demand. The result for the champagne industry was that sales to Britain (still the biggest export market by volume) fell 8.7% to 31.2 million bottles. By value, British exports tumbled 14% to £381 million.

 

Pucka Pasta

Jamie Oliver was forced to announce the impending closure of six of his chain’s 42 UK restaurants in January. A combination of high costs on ingredients, staff training and lower footfall had forced the restaurant closures……all due to Brexit apparently. Yet according to Office for National Statistics figures in November, its economic index for hotels and restaurants was up 1.1% in the third quarter of 2016 following the vote for Brexit. Need an excuse Jamie? Brexit will do.

 

Canary Dwarf

HSBC is Europe’s biggest bank and employs 240,000 people worldwide. They made pre-tax profits of just £5.7 billion in 2016, down 62% from the previous year. Only one thing for it then if you are the boss……he claimed in February that the ‘unexpected’ shocks of the Brexit vote and Donald Trump’s election were partly to blame for a slump in profits.

 

The Brex Factor

ITV cited the Brexit vote as the catalyst for its first decline in advertising sales since the financial crisis. The TV channel revealed that its net advertising revenue for 2016 was 3% lower than the previous year’s total at £1.67 billion.

 

Shrinking Ship

Not much gets the people of the UK so riled as the size of Cadbury’s chocolate bars. Such a tactic, known as ‘shrinkflation’, means companies charge the same price for less in order to keep up with rising costs. Last week the Cadbury’s boss (Glenn Caton) stated the company was confident it will see out any uncertainty but chocolate bars may get smaller due to rising costs of manufacture as a result of Brexit.

 

 

Just a few examples of how the mighty are looking to deflect attention using their Brexit excuse card. Remember, you have a 2 year window to blame everything rubbish in your life on Brexit……use wisely and with haste as the ‘use by’ date will be here before you know it.

 

Now, what Brexit excuse angle can I use for my inability to hit a squash ball against a wall in a manner that would be deemed ‘competitive’!