Farmers are also struggling after Government funding was scrapped after the UK left the EU
12:00, 12 Jul 2026Updated 12:07, 12 Jul 2026
Tom Haward director of Richard Haward’s Oysters(Image: Richard Haward’s Oysters)
Brexit has been a “disaster” and “catastrophe” for the shellfish industry, an Essex fisherman has said.
Tom Haward, 44, director of Richard Haward’s Oysters, said his business has lost around £200,000 a year after the United Kingdom left the European Union. The longstanding Essex-based company, which supplies “some of the finest oysters in the world”, has been in operation for eight generations.
It comes days after the tenth anniversary of the referendum which saw 51.89 per cent of the UK population vote to leave the EU. Mr Harward, who sells shellfish at London’s Borough Market, said his business farms about one million oysters a year from Mersea Island on the north Essex coast.
He had previously feared the UK oyster industry “would grind to a halt” after Brexit. He added: “We had big customers in Europe. When Brexit was implemented all our trade to Europe stopped overnight. I spent a lot of time finding customers in the UK to bridge the gap. It’s still too complicated, difficult and risky to export and trade with Europe, as I am exporting a live animal which is perishable.
“I have been in touch with some European customers and they are still too nervous about buying still because it’s just not simple and easy enough to do. The Europeans love British oysters. I hate Brexit.”
The Essex fisherman said Brexit “has caused so much damage and continues to do so for small businesses.” He added that “so many small businesses that have been drastically harmfully impacted”. He also said he believes “it’s been really damaging to the UK.”
An Essex farmer said he has been forced to diversify to cope following the Brexit changes and the loss of Government funding as a result of leaving the EU.
Tom Bradshaw, 43, owner of Fletchers Farm in Fordham, near Colchester, said his business is making a loss for the third year in a row. The president of the National Farmers’ Union said: “The EU is our biggest food market, 67 per cent of our exports go to the EU and we’ve seen the volume of our food exports reduce by over 30 per cent since 2019.”
Tom Bradshaw, owner of Fletchers Farm in Fordham(Image: Adam Fradgley Exposure Photography)
He also said the “foundation” of successful farming is demand and seeing the EU demand fall as “steeply” as it has, is “not a recipe for getting the best return for the products we are producing”.
He also said under the current conditions, including recent heatwaves and changes after Brexit, the money farmers are making is “incredibly marginal”. He also said there’s “been a huge amount of uncertainty” following Brexit.
He said without Government funding “farmers are saying why on earth do I carry on producing food”. He said “diversification” is proving more profitable than food production and his business now also has equestrian centres and light industrial units.
He added: “We are absolutely relying heavily on diversifying to cope, and it’s completely wrong that producing something as fundamental as the country’s food is not profitable.”