Exclusive: The true scale of the UK’s post-Brexit pixel shortage

The UK’s post-Brexit pixel shortage is causing a backlog of half-finished websites across the country.

Customs delays at the French port of Calais have caused chaos for importers and web designers alike, with the situation being likened to the Icelandic ash cloud of 2010 that prevented pixels being shipped via the air.

The UK designers being pushed to the brink

Hugo Rothschild-Smithe, a web designer with 25 years’ experience, explained how the crisis has made him consider retirement.

“In my time I have seen a lot of changes within the industry, and we have faced several obstacles,” he said.

“When I first started, we could only use black and white, but we’re now able to use a range of colours imported from overseas.

“To have that taken away from us is infuriating and, to be honest, I’m thinking of calling it a day.”

The devastating impact on small businesses

The UK climate restricts pixel farming to just black and white, while countries such as Belgium and The Netherlands are able to cultivate all manner of colours and shades.

Precious Johnstone paid more than £12,000 to have a website built for her business that sells jewellery for dogs, but the situation in Calais has left her out of pocket.

“My designer told me they can’t get hold of enough pixels, so I have either got to remove some words or make the homepage smaller,” she said.

“They’ve said they don’t have the stock to fulfil their demands at the moment, so my site only takes up half the screen.”

Could the situation prompt a boom in the UK market?

Despite the gloomy possibility of colourful websites being all-but-extinct in Britain by 2030, some designers are relishing what they believe could be the UK market’s heyday.

“It’s about time we learned to use British pixels,” claims Ken Barnes, a designer for The WebTech Partnership.

“For too long we have been importing from Europe or relying on cheap ones from China. Websites don’t need colour. You can get your message across in good old black and white. This crisis could help us realise British pixels are and always have been the best in the world.”