What actual products do we export to the EU

gfplux

Apodemus wrote: »

Viewed from Highlands of Scotland...

France is the second biggest export market for whisky (after USA). Most of our salmon production heads to Europe and nearly all our inshore fishery products (prawns, scallops, lobsters, etc) head to France and Spain. A bit of our local beef and lamb heads off to high end outlets on the continent. A very important portion of our incoming tourists are on self-drive holidays from EU countries. And the Johnson & Johnson Lifescan factory in Inverness exports its diabetes monitoring kits globally, including a significant proportion to EU countries.

I'm not saying any or all of these will be affected by Brexit, just answering the OP request for information. Viewed from here, at the very periphery of the European continent, free trade with EU looks pretty important.

Thanks Apodemus for actually reading my question.
Without (DO NOT GO THERE) talking about the future choices Scotland might want to make you understand perfectly what I am trying to get at.

I was born in the midlands and have some understanding of the pain and joy as the footwear industry changed, grew, died and prospered in a different way, and the way villages and even Towns changed in character because of this.

We are at that type of opportunity. Before the result of the referendum was in there was much DOOM from the in side and much OPPORTUNITY from the out side. We are now OUT and Now we need to focus on that opportunity and the potential winners and losers.
This can mean home owners might want to change their focus on where the next move should be and anyone not on the housing ladder might be able to spot the next hot or cold locality.

PasturesNew

Apodemus wrote: »

....fishery products (prawns, scallops, lobsters, etc) head to France and Spain. ...

Same in Cornwall. Many harbours you can't buy fresh fish/crabs/whatever .... but twice a week you can see the Spanish lorry parked at the quayside waiting to load up.

gfplux

Generali wrote: »

Mine wasn't an anti-Brexit post as such, more a statement of fact. I'm sorry if it came across as a rant because it really wasn't meant to be.

The biggest loser in total £ terms rather than relative terms will be London. Financial and other services are such a huge part of both GDP and exports. It's hard to see how that can be made whole.

No problem I now understand.
I agree London can be effected however I thoughts are more focused on smaller villages or Towns.
A doubling in size of a small factory due to a huge increase in exports to Chine can have a significant effect on the price of housing stock.
Problems with export licences to the traditional markets closer to home can have the opposite effect.
I am keen to identify those areas.
Some Factory's/industry's will prosper in the new world of opportunity outside the EU and some will die.

gfplux

kabayiri wrote: »

The NW UK was traditionally an engineering centre. Obviously, the trend of moving work to the Far East has changed this.

But, what surprises me now, is the small pockets of companies you get which have become highly specialised and extremely good.

A couple of examples. One produces high quality specialist oils. It's something you would never think about. Another produces high precision parts for things like deep sea pipeline interconnectors.

Thanks for that. These specialists smaller company's employ people that are directly effected by the success or otherwise of the company. Often the exports help the company prosper.
Now there is this new opportunity outside the EU they have to grasp it and might grow and employ more people.

Sometimes we are helpless when the world markets move against us. Any company working in the oil industry is having a miserable time.

gfplux

PasturesNew wrote: »

Same in Cornwall. Many harbours you can't buy fresh fish/crabs/whatever .... but twice a week you can see the Spanish lorry parked at the quayside waiting to load up.

!!!
I got a sneaking feeling you missed the point.
This thread is about EXPORTS.

Do you live in Cornwall. Do you actually know that locals can not buy fresh fish have you actually wanted to buy fresh fish at the harbour or are we entering the communication area of "a bloke in a pub told me" so it must be true.

The only harbour I visit regularly is in France and you can not buy fresh fish at the harbour......... After 8am as it is all sold and the fishermen have gone home to sleep.

Thrugelmir

Generali wrote: »

Thank you for sharing your anecdote with us.

World is a rapidly changing place.

Thrugelmir

gfplux wrote: »

Sorry for this BUT I wanted to link the export of product with their local community. I know I should know but for the moment it slips my mind. I think it is Maclaren, where are they based.

Woking.

50% of the company is owned by the Bahrain Royal Family though. So profit goes overseas not reinvested in the UK.

PasturesNew

gfplux wrote: »

!!!
I got a sneaking feeling you missed the point.
This thread is about EXPORTS.

Do you live in Cornwall. Do you actually know that locals can not buy fresh fish have you actually wanted to buy fresh fish at the harbour or are we entering the communication area of "a bloke in a pub told me" so it must be true.

The only harbour I visit regularly is in France and you can not buy fresh fish at the harbour......... After 8am as it is all sold and the fishermen have gone home to sleep.

Yes, exports of fishy things to Spain.
I did do, so did/do family, for over 20 years now.
We spoke to the fishermen to find out if/where in town we could get a crab and they told us "it all goes direct to Spain from here". So I got it from the horse's mouth, when speaking to them as locals enquiring.... as we wanted one.

daveyjp

If you were a Cornish crab fisherman what would you do?

Fish for crabs hoping there's a queue on the pier at the end of every day asking for a product very few would buy, or forward sell all your catch to whoever paid the highest price?

Fish buying is nothing to do with being in or out of EU. For a country surrounded by the sea we do not have a tradition of buying fresh fish.

BTW if you want to buy a fresh crab or lobster go to East Yorkshire. The day boat crew will sell you one from the pot.

Apodemus

daveyjp wrote: »

Fish buying is nothing to do with being in or out of EU. For a country surrounded by the sea we do not have a tradition of buying fresh fish.

That's a bit of a sweeping generalisation. Historically, many parts of UK have had a very strong tradition of fish buying and eating the local catches. Our eating habits of the last 70 years have been hugely influenced by the war-time centralisation of the food process. You could equally say we have no tradition of artisan bakery, local cheeses or regional ales - all these existed pre-war and are only now having a resurgence. In a similar way (and as you rightly mention), the industrialisation of the fish catching and selling business has favoured the bigger and more certain markets, but this has always been the case. In the era of the Scottish herring industry we had both a major export industry of salted fish to the Baltic at the same time as the "tatties and herring" staple diet in rural and coastal communities at home.

With apologies to the OP for digressing from an interesting topic.