Brexit prompts JD Sports to open Dublin warehouse

Retailer JD Sports is to open a 65,000 sq ft warehouse near Dublin to tackle post-Brexit trading problems.

Goods which JD imports from East Asia to GB now incur tariffs when they are distributed onward to its stores across Europe.

To deal with this JD has already opened a warehouse in Belgium but says it needs a specific facility for Ireland.

The company says the Irish facility will become operational in the second half of this year.

It is also considering a bigger facility elsewhere in the EU from which it would process all EU online orders.

In a trading update the firm said: "We continue to review opportunities for a larger permanent facility in Europe which can process substantially all of the volume required for stores and online orders in mainland Europe although it will likely be Autumn 2022 before an enlarged facility would be available for use."

In February the chairman of JD told the BBC that Brexit had turned out to be "considerably worse" than he feared.

Peter Cowgill said there was no true free trade with the EU, because goods that JD Sports imports from East Asia incur tariffs when they go to its stores across Europe.

"I actually think it was not properly thought out," he said.

"All the spin that was put on it about being free trade and free movement has not been the reality."