The UK’s biggest FMCG suppliers have refused to give a mandate for the Food & Drink Federation to campaign against Brexit, as three influential figures on its leadership body came out in favour of quitting the EU, The Grocer can reveal.
A meeting of the FDF’s executive committee last week is believed to have seen the bosses of major companies clash over whether Brexit would be good for the industry, but while the vast majority backed staying in, members agreed it was “not a good use of resources” for the federation to spearhead a campaign.
A source said around 15 of the 25 companies at the meeting were “absolutely in the Bremain camp” with three in favour of Brexit and others more neutral. “There was a general view that the FDF should not be out there campaigning against Brexit and that it wouldn’t be a good use of the FDF’s resources,” said the source.
The FDF is now polling members on their views to feed into a position statement, which it will put out next week. But this will stop well short of actively campaigning either way. The FDF has also agreed to launch a new standalone website carrying all relevant information to companies about issues concerning Brexit.
The new poll, which has been sent to around 200 companies, comes despite a survey of members being sent out by the FDF in January asking for their views on the issue.
Director general Ian Wright denied speculation that the first survey had failed to provide enough backing for an anti-Brexit campaign: “We always thought we would have to send out a further poll in order to come up with a position on where the FDF stands,” he said.
Former Diageo corporate relations boss Wright, who has repeatedly spoken out on the dangers of Brexit, said he had no intention of “doing a John Longworth” by stepping outside his remit.
Longworth, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, was forced to resign after speaking out in favour of Britain leaving the EU.
The bosses of Diageo, Unilever, Ocado, Nordic Bakery, Asda, Chivas Brothers, Greene King, SAB Miller, Dixons Carphone, Mothercare and Wyke Farms were among 200 signatories in a letter to The Times calling for the UK to stay in. However, with three of the big four choosing not to sign up to the letter, the BRC has said it will sit on the fence.
This week Grocer guest editor Rich Clothier, MD of Wyke Farms, said he was “depressed” that organisations like the FDF were not making a stand.
Logistics execs want to stay in
A majority of the UK’s leading logistics professionals want the UK to remain in the EU, a new snap poll reveals.
The informal poll of 110 people at a UK Warehousing Association-organised annual luncheon at the House of Lords on 2 March, found over 60% thought the nation’s best interests would be served by remaining part of the EU. Peter Ward, UKWA chief executive, said the remaining 40% were split “fairly evenly” between the “outs” and the “unsures”. “Of course the poll was by no means conducted in a scientific way, but I think it provided an interesting snapshot of the way some of the most senior people in the UK supply chain sector feel about the Brexit issue,” he said.
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