AS WE get closer to the end of the first month of Brexit and the new way of doing things in Northern Ireland, retailers want the processes simplified so they can continue to provide for the population just like they used to.

Images of empty shelves in supermarkets have been common in January since the UK left the EU.

Aodhán Connolly, Director of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium (NIRC) – that represents a range of retailers across Northern Ireland, including in Fermanagh – believes a simplification of the processes around Brexit will make life a lot easier.

"There's a very, very clear message that's coming from business," explains Aodhán. "The watchword for 2020 was 'sovereignty', and that's what we heard a lot of. The watchword for 2021 will be 'simplification'.

"Wherever there is friction, there is cost. What we want to do is try and live up to the responsibilities that are set out in the Northern Ireland Protocol, but to simplify those things so that you remove friction and you remove costs.

"So simplification is what we're asking for; simplification is what's needed. And that is the big message for 2021: business needs simplification, if we're going to be able to trade in any sort of profitable way."

The NIRC never took a position on Brexit, but instead it wanted to make whatever Brexit looked like to work for retailers and consumers.

"What we did was try to be the arbiters of common sense and ask questions. So, if we were going to be part of the EU Customs Union and Single Market, what would that mean?

"We asked all of the hard questions, and it has to be remembered that our Brexit campaign wasn't about retailers. Our Brexit campaign was [about] a fair deal for consumers, because we knew the people who would end up paying for all of this was the consumers."

However, it has been something of a "perfect storm" of situations that have brought about challenges for retailers.

"The Northern Ireland householder has about half of the discretionary income of Great British households, but also retail is a very high-volume, low-profit margin industry, and that means that retail can't afford to take the [Brexit] hit either.

"And that's really across the board. To add on top of that, the preparations that we had for four different Brexit deadlines, which all cost money, [have also affected overall readiness].

"And then, on top of that, we have had Covid. It's been a pretty hard time to be a retailer, in this past couple of years."

The first weeks of January have not been without their challenges either, but the level of preparedness by retailers for Brexit differs, according to Aodhán.

"Some people were very prepared for it, and others are finding Brexit hard to get to grips with, and I think the Government campaigns should have been a lot stronger and started a lot earlier.

"But they couldn't start earlier, because they were only deciding things up until December 8-10, and in fact, for parcels going into Northern Ireland, the rules only came out 18 hours before January 1, 2021."

He points out that post-Brexit life is not as dark as people are making it out to be, and the empty food shelves comprise a small percentage of what is actually sold in supermarkets.

As well as that, Covid-19 has also had an effect, with people overbuying when shopping, and leading to low stock.

"You've got to remember, it's not just ourselves here in Northern Ireland who are facing these problems. If you look in Great Britain, you know, everywhere from Kent to Birmingham to Cambridgeshire are finding these [similar stock] problems.

"And you've got to remember that we had this last March, and there was no Brexit then; just overbuying because of Covid, and we are seeing that as well," added Aodhán.

As well as being part of the NIRC, Aodhán is also convenor for the Northern Ireland Brexit Working Group, a group which covers 85-90 per cent of industry in Northern Ireland.

They have met with the UK government, the Irish government, the Northern Ireland Executive and the EU, and they are working harder than ever before to find a way of simplifying the processes.

Aodhán also paid tribute to Stephen Kelly from Manufacturing NI, and Seamus Leheny of Logistics UK, who he has been in constant contact with to make sure the supply chains are flowing properly.

"I think it's a testament to those guys that we are where we are.

"The way the Prime Minister [Boris Johnson] says that 'there's no challenges', that's not true, and other people saying that 'there are food shortages', that's not true. There are choice issues, but there's no food shortages.

"So what we need to look at is people being pragmatic, removing the politics from this, and actually looking to those solutions that we need for the deadline on the first of April and on the first of July [respective deadlines for import changes].

"That's what businesses are in, interested in pragmatism and finding solutions," Aodhán added.