It’s now almost 10 years since the UK voted to leave the EU. And it’s just over five since the end of the Brexit transition period – when the UK actually exited the single market and customs union.

But for the food and drink sector, the political dust from those febrile times has never really settled. Despite Boris Johnson’s bluster over his Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA), the reality has been a marked deterioration in trading conditions.

That could all change following a “historic” UK/EU summit last May. Keir Starmer’s EU reset is now, finally, gaining momentum. Negotiations on a new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) deal with the bloc – effectively taking the food and drink sector back into the single market – are well underway. Implementation is expected to be as early as next year.