Aircraft manufacturer Airbus has started stockpiling parts in preparation for the impending Brexit and possible border delays it may cause, with engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce set to follow suit.
According to Bloomberg, Airbus CEO Tom Enders said at the Farnborough International Airshow on Wednesday that "the company needs to create an inventory buffer to insure against any shortages," while Rolls-Royce CEO Warren East needs to decide by the end of the year whether to build up its own supply of parts.
David Stewart, aerospace partner at consultancy firm Oliver Wyman, noted, however, that “there's a limit to how much they [big companies] can do in terms of digging down.”
"There's a small company that does this piece of bearing, clip, pump. You can't go and check every one of those single companies to see how well prepared they are," he remarked.
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Earlier, Airbus also announced that the company, which employs some 15,000 people in Britain, would invest elsewhere if the UK leaves the EU in 2019 without a deal.
Britain's exit from the EU is slated for March 29, 2019. A transition period, which will see the UK remain in the single market and customs union, is due to last until the end of 2020.
