GRAHAM HISCOTT Stockpile fear for food giant Heavyweight’s no-deal Brexit warning

THE owner of Ovaltine has begun stockpiling supplies after warning a no-deal Brexit will cause chaos “within days”.

Industry giant Associated British Foods (ABF), which also makes Twinings tea and Patak’s curry sauces, joined a list of firms ramping-up preparations.

Chief executive George Weston told the Mirror: “We are taking steps to stockpile raw materials and packaging.”

He warned the UK food supply chain would “really struggle pretty quickly” if the UK left the EU with no customs deals, with disruption at ports causing problems “within days and certainly two weeks”.

He added: “Life would be very tough if we lost Dover and there were major hold-ups.”

ABF flagged up the risk of a no-deal Brexit on the supply chain for the first time to analysts. However, the company stressed that long term, Brexit could deliver “significant opportunities” from changes in laws and trade agreements. The firm said food products made here could replace imported goods.

ABF has responded by pumping £20million into expanding a noodle factory in Manchester. It came as it announced full-year profit rose 5% to nearly £1.4billion. Half of the firm’s £15.6bn sales haul came from its hit fashion chain Primark, where profits leapt 15%. Primark’s storming success came despite a drop in sales in stores open at least a year and a decision not to increase prices.

This offset a 51% slump in profits in ABF’S sugar producing arm, while an “unacceptable loss” in its Kingsmill bread-making firm Allied Bakeries could mean higher shop prices.

A manufacturing firm is to close two UK plants amid “uncertainty surrounding Brexit”, putting 570 jobs at risk.

Automotive and industrial supplier Schaeffler said the sites in Plymouth and Llanelli, South Wales, will close within two years.

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