Publishers and distributors still beset by post-Brexit delays and costs

Delays and added costs caused by the Brexit deal are still a significant problem for the industry four months on from the end of the transition period, publishers and distribution firms say, dashing hopes that they were just teething problems.

Small presses, particularly in Ireland, are experiencing substantial delays for deliveries, while others are struggling to manage the increasing cost of exports. Meanwhile, one distribution company is considering setting up a European hub for its publishers, as customers look to source items from the EU to avoid extra fees.

Karen Sullivan, founder and publisher at Orenda, is still having difficulties paying translators living abroad without racking up charges and is finding delays to Europe are a consistent problem.

“Brexit continues to cause disruption in multiple ways,” she said. “We still have not found a satisfactory method of paying translators without incurring a significant fee, and banking doesn't appear to have been prioritised in the agreement. Book proofs and book plates for authors to sign and return have been held up for weeks.”

Citing one case, she said the delay had dragged on for more than a month, despite staff completing the paperwork “to the letter”.

“Orders on the continent, a significant market for us, are down considerably, and delays are a nightmare,” she said. “The time it takes to complete paperwork for everything leaving here is ridiculous, and we only ship small customer orders and proofs and bookmarks, etc. I can't imagine what it's like for our warehouse staff. All in all, there has been no improvement for us and it's a worry.”

In Ireland, some presses are relying on efficient EU-based printers that deliver direct. Laura Waddell, publishing director at Ireland’s Tramp Press, said the team “feels fortunate [to] have a strong, long-standing relationship with our EU-based printer, which always gets books to Ireland in plenty of time, and has done what they can to beat lags to shipments entering the UK.”

She has heard reports from booksellers in Ireland that books coming in from the UK are facing significant delays. She added: “We're in a fortunate position that our stock ships directly to Ireland. We are, however, still feeling the frustration of extra customs paperwork and costs, particularly when transferring stock between Ireland and the UK.”

Ivan O'Brien, m.d. at O'Brien Press, has previously warned the main challenges for the Irish publisher concern logistics, both inbound and outbound, and he said this has still not improved. "Getting all the paperwork in place for UK printers this spring has taken longer than expected, and led to substantial delays, often with no notice," he said. "Even now, in mid-April, all deliveries from Britain are slower this year than before."

Alex Robertson, business development director at CBL Distribution, said delivery of goods into Europe had become quicker of late but the volume of deliveries into mainland Europe had definitely fallen since Brexit. The company is considering an EU-based hub to facilitate orders and deliveries to mainland Europe, as customers increasingly opt to source from there where possible to avoid charges. “This may create an opportunity for other publishers who are also looking at the services we can provide for their customers, both business and consumer, in Europe to create a possible superhub for UK publishers,” Robertson added.

At Oxford-based Awesome Books, head of books Simon Mackay said his business was facing delays to its UK to EU mail orders, with the UK now having “third country” status. “Some countries are particularly bad with some carriers suspending mail services to countries with huge backlogs,” he said. “Costs are higher than before so UK companies aren’t as competitive as they were. We remain committed to provide an excellent service for our European customers and hope that things will improve.”

Matt Wright, c.e.o. of Hachette UK distribution, said the company was still experiencing “occasional" problems as a result of errors caused by a parcel or pallet carrier trying to comply with export paperwork and making mistakes. “This is only to be expected when new processes are yet to bed in fully and the solutions are always centred on dialogue with the carriers. We speak to them on a daily basis to rectify problems as they occur and put longer-term fixes in place to prevent recurrence, as well as keeping our customers informed while we take action. The issues were at their peak in January, but have been diminishing steadily since and we hope to eliminate them entirely in due course.”

Stephen Lotinga, c.e.o. of the Publishers Association, said the main issue publishers are raising with the organisation is VAT, which varies by product and by country.“This additional complexity is causing delays and increasing the cost of exports,” he said.

However Lotinga suggested that another area was of even higher concern. “The most worrying result of Brexit for the UK’s publishing industry is that, now we have left the EU, a consultation is about to be launched by the government into whether our copyright laws should be changed governing how parallel imports of books are treated. If the current laws are weakened then this could have a really devastating impact on many in the sector, not least the thousands of authors who rely on international markets for their livelihoods,” he warned.