Next has issued a warning that if the Red Sea shipping interruption persists, its goods deliveries may be delayed.
Businesses have started avoiding the region and taking longer routes as a result of Houthi rebel attacks on ships in one of the busiest maritime lanes in the world.
It was then said that delays in stock supplies to the UK were “likely” to occur early this year if access “difficulties” persisted.
The store issued the warning in the wake of reporting higher-than-expected pre-Christmas sales.
The High Street behemoth, which has over 460 stores throughout the UK and Ireland, increased its profit projection by 5% to £960 million for 2024 as a result of the prosperous holiday season.
The High Street behemoth, which has over 460 stores throughout the UK and Ireland, increased its profit projection by 5% to £960 million for 2024 as a result of the prosperous holiday season.
But in its trade statement on Thursday, it issued a warning about “risks” in the supply chain.
“Difficulties with access to the Suez Canal, if they continue, are likely to cause some delays to stock deliveries in the early part of the year,” the company stated.
Although some of the largest shipping firms in the world are rerouting their routes away from the Red Sea, Next is not the first company to alert the public about problems with obtaining goods and merchandise.
The furniture giant Ikea announced last month that there may be a delay in the delivery of some of its products.
Stock may take “two to two-and-a-half weeks” to reach the UK due to the delays, Next Chief Executive Lord Simon Wolfson told the PA news agency.
“It will impact on sales if this persists for a long time, but not dramatic levels,” he stated.
Following attacks on commercial ships by Houthi rebels in Yemen in recent weeks, a number of businesses have chosen to stay away from one of the busiest shipping channels in the world: ships pass through the strait of Bab al-Mandab, a 20-mile-wide channel that divides Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula from Eritrea and Djibouti on the African side, and then north to Egypt’s Suez Canal.
The Houthi organization has stated that it is targeting ships that are traveling to Israel and has declared its support for Hamas; however, it is unclear if all of the attacked ships have been headed to Israel.
Shipping delays have resulted from numerous container shipping companies diverting their vessels to a longer path that circumnavigates Africa’s Cape of Good Hope and then travels up the west side of the continent, due to the attacks and associated threat.
It is “very difficult” to defend ships against attacks, according to Chris Long, director of intelligence for Neptune Port to Port Group, a private marine security firm that works in the Red Sea.
“There are no commercially available systems that you can put on a container ship that can protect you against the armament that the Houthis are deploying at the moment,” he stated on the BBC’s Today show.
“Our guards are there primarily to provide reassurance to the ship’s captain to help prepare if they are attacked and to give advice of what to do in the event of attack, there is very little a ship can do to avoid it.”