# #31 Mountain Warehouse CEO: Middle East Conflict Impacts UK Retail

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/big-boss-interview-316999/31-mountain-warehouse-ceo-middle-east-conflict-impacts-uk-retail
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/big-boss-interview-316999/31-mountain-warehouse-ceo-middle-east-conflict-impacts-uk-retail.md
Podcast: [Big Boss Interview](https://stenobird.com/podcast/big-boss-interview-316999)
Published: 2026-03-16T00:01:00+00:00
Episode link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0n6h15p
Audio file: http://open.live.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/6/redir/version/2.0/mediaset/audio-nondrm-download-rss-low/proto/http/vpid/p0n6flfl.mp3
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Duration seconds: 2132

## Resource

Mark Neale, founder and chief executive of Mountain Warehouse - the outdoor clothing company - joins Will Bain for this episode of Big Boss Interview to discuss how conflict in the Middle East, tariff volatility and UK economic policy are affecting retailers and the wider economy. Disruption to global shipping routes is already pushing up costs for businesses importing goods from Asia. Prior to the latest US/Isarael war against Iran ,attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea had effectively closed the Suez Canal to many freight ships for nearly a year, forcing cargo to travel around the Horn of Africa instead. That detour adds roughly two weeks to delivery times and significantly increases freight costs. Neale says companies have built greater resilience into supply chains since the pandemic, but sustained disruption in from the latest conflict will eventually feed through into higher prices if the situation continues. Trade policy is creating further uncertainty due to the impact of American tariffs. Neale questions what such tariff policies are designed to achieve, arguing that no realistic trade regime is going to bring garment manufacturing back to the United States. He also says they've tried diversify away from Chinese made clothes as a result. The interview also examines the state of the UK economy. Neale argues the country has lost “the best part of a year of growth” because the government repeatedly emphasised how broken parts of the country were — from the NHS to the economy — without setting out a clear positive vision for growth. When the new administration arrived, he says, inflation and interest rates were already beginning to fall and there were early signs of recovery emerging. Neale compares the situation to a new chief executive taking over a strug…

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