For a man who supplies fresh fruit and vegetables to supermarkets, Ian Smith has been getting some odd phone calls recently. The boss of ERMS UK has had many inquiries about using his four warehouses in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire, to store everything from tinned food to firelighters.

“You can store fresh produce for only up to about three weeks, but some people are looking for much longer periods to store all sorts of things,” said Smith.

ERMS UK has taken out newspaper ads to capitalise on the sudden demand for hoarding goods, reading: “Brexit? Stockpiling? Intelligent logistics!”

Smith’s opportunity has sprouted from the nightmare scenario for swathes of business: the spectre of a chaotic no-deal Brexit that could disrupt imports of food and medicines, create an