When Brexit first drove up the cost of importing ingredients like jasmine rice, curry paste and coconut milk from Thailand, London restaurant owner Saiphin Moore traveled to her native country to cut out the middlemen. By finding farmers and manufacturers to supply her directly, she cut costs by 15%, helping her 17-chain Rosa’s Thai Cafe weather the pound’s decline.
Until now, that is.
As the risk that Britain will tumble out of the European Union without a deal leads more traders to bet sterling is headed for 34-year lows, Moore is concerned another big depreciation will be too much to bear for her business. She imports nearly 70% of ingredients and employs many Thai nationals.
“I’ve never been this worried,” said Moore, 51, who opened the first Rosa’s Thai Cafe with her husband Alex near Spitalfields Market in the midst of a recession 10 years ago, when the pound was 40% stronger against the Thai baht. “I’m worried about my staff. Most of our non-local staff have obligations back home, and slowly and painfully the costs of looking after their loved ones, of servicing their debt, have gone up.”
Britain’s messy divorce with Europe is hitting entrepreneurs like Moore hard because the currency fluctuations make it virtually impossible for them to manage inventory. Yet a stroll down British high streets reveals that for all the business owners dreading the drama that will unfold as the Oct. 31 deadline nears, there are some quietly celebrating the weaker pound.
Managers like Sukhinder Singh, who owns specialty whisky retailer, The Whisky Exchange. The more the pound tumbles-it fell as much as 5% to $1.2033 per pound this quarter alone-the cheaper it gets for foreigners to buy expensive British-made liquor.
According to Singh, more tourists stopping by The Whisky Exchange’s Covent Garden and Fitzrovia shops these days…
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