A major report from the British Chambers of Commerce has found that 49% of UK exporters are facing difficulties adapting to new Brexit regulations around the trading of goods. 

The survey of 1,000 firms, the majority of which were SMEs, found that firms are struggling with the changes following the ratification of the UK_EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement. 

Key results from the survey included 30% of respondents reporting difficulties adapting to changes in moving or trading goods in the first month of the year. Only 10% said they’d found adapting easy, with another 16% saying it was too early to say (the survey was conducted between 18th and 31st January). 

In total, 49% of businesses and 51% of manufacturers reported struggles with increased admin, costs, delays and confusion over the rules and which to follow proving the most common difficulties.

Adam Marshall, BCC director-general, said of the survey results that: “Trading businesses – and the UK’s chances at a strong economic recovery – are being hit hard by changes at the border.

“The late agreement of a UK-EU trade deal left businesses in the dark on the detail right until the last minute, so it’s unsurprising to see that so many businesses are now experiencing practical difficulties on the ground as the new arrangements go live.

“For some firms, these concerns are existential, and go well beyond mere ‘teething problems’. It should not be the case that companies simply have to give up on selling their goods and services into the EU. Ministers must do everything they can to fix the problems that are within the UK’s own control, and increase their outreach to EU counterparts to solve the knotty issues that are stifling trade in both directions.

Read more: Free webinar on exporting goods & services to the EU at Emerging Tech Fest

“This situation could get worse if the UK sticks to its guns and introduces additional SPS checks in April and full customs checks on imports in July. These timescales need to change – and the support available for businesses who are battling to adapt to new trading conditions significantly increased.”

SMEs grants for expert support

To help small firms adapt to the new trading relationship with the EU, many are now eligible for grants of up to £2,000 to help cover the cost of training and professional advice as part of the £20 million SME Brexit Support Fund.

If your business is still working to adapt and change to the new trading relationship with the EU, we can help. Our Brexit FastTrack service can deliver a detailed review of your business post-Brexit to resolve the issues you are encountering. 

Learn more here.

Small and medium-sized businesses in the UK can now apply for grants of up to £2,000 to help cover the cost of training and professional advice in relation to Brexit. 

The new £20 million SME Brexit Support Fund, announced by Michael Gove last week, will help SMEs adjust to new customs, rules of origin and VAT rules when trading with the EU.

The grants, worth up to £2,000 per trader, are relevant to EU-only exporters who won’t be up to speed with the customs regulations associated with global trade. 

National Chair at the Federation of Small Business, Mike Cherry, said of the new grant that: “Today’s announcement is very significant. Small businesses, often with few cash reserves, are for the first time facing complex new customs processes, VAT requirements and rules of origin. 

“While many have come to FSB for help, we have been asking for proper financial assistance of this scale, so that a cash-strapped small business can afford to buy-in expertise, training and practical support. 

Read more: Survey shows majority of UK SMEs aren’t expecting EU trade slowdown following Brexit

“The new fund will make a significant difference, and we are pleased that Ministers have really engaged with us on this, and come up with an excellent response.”

If your business is still working to adapt and change to the new trading relationship with the EU, we can help. Our Brexit FastTrack service can deliver a detailed review of your business post-Brexit to resolve the issues you are encountering. 

Learn more here.

On 26th and 27th January, we’ll be joining Enterprise Nation for a special Amazon Bootcamp.

The free educational online event will teach participants how to sell products globally, with sessions on marketplace essentials, guidance on shipping to the USA and selling into Europe after Brexit.

The Amazon Small Business Accelerator Boostcamp is free to join and will require a commitment of seven hours learning time over the two days where participants will also receive a certificate of completion.

Sign-up for this live Bootcamp and learn more about the agendas on both days here.

After years of political wrangling and to-the-wire negotiations, Brexit for real has finally happened. For many in the general public, that’s it. Brexit is done. But for UK businesses returning to work from a well-earned festive break, the real work is yet to begin. 

The end of the transition period and arrival into a new era of UK/EU relations arrived with little fanfare. No great rip appeared in the waters south of Dover and supermarket shelves haven’t emptied overnight. 

Of course, the ongoing pandemic continues to take up much of the public and news bandwidth and, probably not until summer holidays come around and UK holidaymakers are no longer allowed to join the EU queue at airports – and when they return home to a roaming data bill – will many really notice the effects of Brexit. 

But businesses reeling from pandemic mitigations now have very real, but also very actionable, challenges ahead. 

Here’s a look at just some of the key issues for UK firms:

Added bureaucracy

Customs, origin, VAT, safety, livestock health… there’s a raft of extra red tape that exporters now have to deal with to continue trading relatively seamlessly with the EU. 

The government itself has admitted that there could be ‘bumpy moments’ in the weeks ahead as both businesses and hauliers get used to new rules and requirements.

Business travel has a new set of rules

The good news for fans of international meetings is that short-term business visits to the EU can continue, up to a limit of 90 days in a six-month period. 

However, the scope of what a business visit now covers without the need for a work permit has changed. Meetings, consultations, research, training and trade shows are all good, but selling goods or supplying services to the public are not.

The government advises that business travellers check what visas and permits may be required for specific trips into the EU.

What’s happening with data?

Much like with the introduction of GDPR, there is still some confusion and large grey areas around the use of handling of personal data between UK and EU businesses. The EU has yet to decide if the UK’s personal data protection rules are tough enough to allow continuous flow, something which if altered could leave British firms less competitive than their EU competitors. 

A temporary arrangement to continue allowing data flow for the next six months has been agreed, but the lack of detail on financial services and the potential requirement for a legal data representative on the continent are just two big future potential stumbling blocks.

Firms may accidentally break the law

There may be a raft of UK firms that accidentally break the law or, in the very least, the new trade agreement rules over the coming weeks. 

The IfG gave some examples where this could take place, noting that: “Some industries, especially food, will simply be unable to do this: cane sugar imported from the Caribbean and refined in the UK will not qualify for access to the EU tariff-free, nor will basmati rice imported from India and milled in the UK. 

“Any meat product must contain only meat from animals born and raised in the UK or the EU.”

Businesses that aren’t aware of new requirements within the trade agreement may continue trading as normal but be in violation of the new agreement. 

Whilst there will no doubt be a certain level of understanding and a grace period to cover issues like this, that won’t last forever. 

Planning for the future

There’s no doubt that the agreement of a trade deal has brought some certainty for the future. Businesses now know that tariffs and taxes won’t be levied on their goods, and Rules of Origin is far less restrictive as it could have been. 

But there are still gaps in the agreement, and we don’t know how fast or how expansive the new Global Britain will be. 

The Department for International Trade has been sprinting to form new trade and continuity agreements with a host of countries, and there will no doubt be more to come. 

The advice for UK businesses right now would be to get to grips with the new trade deal, make the required changes as soon as possible and then, once some stability has been restored, make preparations to be able to capitalise on new global opportunities as they arise.

Growing into the future

At Go Exporting, we help business just like yours plan for the future, research new markets and helping you to plan and implement your export strategy for profitable growth.

Learn more about our international trade consultancy here.

This month, Go Exporting’s Mike Wilson and Laura Brocklebank of Enterprise Ireland discussed the changing structures of UK local authorities, the key investment areas for councils and the opportunities for Irish suppliers.

Watch the full webinar below:

Watch more webinars from Enterprise Ireland as part of Evolve UK here.

As the UK government and European Union negotiators continue in their search for a mutually-agreeable trade agreement, businesses have to carry on preparing for the end of the transition period as best as possible. 

Whilst no future deal is guaranteed, what is almost certain is a change in the way the two parties do trade with each other. That change could be as small as some additional paperwork at points of entry, or it could be as large as a WTO tariffs structure and a new regime of regulations to digest, understand and comply with. 

A new report lead by Professor Anand Menon, Director of The UK in a Changing Europe, has looked in detail at the way in which the manufacturing sector may be impacted by Brexit – especially as this segment of the UK economy is probably more significant than some would give it credit for. 

The organisation, billed as an authoritative source for independent research on UK-EU relations, looked at a range of factors covering the UK’s manufacturing links with the EU, sectoral and regional exposure to Brexit and how the various potential Brexit outcomes may impact everything from tariffs and rules of origin to data protection and investment.

You can access their full report here.

Highlights from the report

• Manufacturing accounts of 10% of the total UK economy and 9% of employment
• The sector makes up almost half of the UK’s annual exports and 60% of private-sector investment into research and development
• Any disruption to this sector could have a ‘sizeable negative impact on the wider UK economy’ due to the reliance of other sectors on manufacturing
• UK manufacturers are deeply integrated with the EU single market, in particular with frictionless trade in order to maintain supply chains
• Skilled EU manufacturing workers often support key skills gaps in the UK, such as in engineering
• Sectors including aerospace may be more resilient to a no-deal scenario as they will likely face no tariffs with international trade in this sector being predominantly tariff-free
• Brexit will create additional financial and other cost burdens for companies with tariffs, customs declarations, loss of collaboration apportioning and audits costing money and time resource
• Brexit uncertainty has already resulted in delayed investment in UK manufacturing 

How the government could help

• Loans, wage subsidies and government equity stakes in manufacturing businesses could help cushion the post-Brexit shock – similar to schemes already being utilised to support the economy during the coronavirus pandemic
• Policies covering skills, research and development and financial support could be devolved to regions and devolved institutions to support the addressing of regional economic disparities – or ‘levelling up’. This would entail a policy reset moment. 
• Region-specific industrial policies could be used to take advantage of new technologies that are part of the fourth industrial revolution

Is your business ready for Brexit?

The transition period for the UK fully leaving the EU behind is less than 6 months away. Government figures show 61% of companies are unprepared! Discussions with the EU are faltering and a no-deal crash out seems ever more likely. 

Read more: UK business leaders reiterate ‘hugely damaging’ prospects of no-deal Brexit

Now is the time to act. There’s a lot to do to be Brexit ready. Get ahead of the game by downloading our free Brexit Planning Checklist and seeing how prepared your business is right now.

The UK’s smallest exporting firms are reportedly ‘jumping before they’re pushed’ by selling products away from the EU. 

Some £10bn in exports have been diverted to other international markets over the last four years according to research from Aston University in what it calls evasive action from businesses to mitigate the damage of a potential collapse in ongoing trade talks. 

The university analysed 340,000 export transactions by 26,000 UK businesses over half a decade and found that the smallest firms had switched up to 46% of new export growth to non-EU markets since the referendum took place. For SMEs, that figure was 19%. 

Commonwealth nations, Russia, India, Brazil, China and South Africa were the primary new export markets. 

However, data does also suggest that the percentage share of total exports into the EU has been gradually falling over time, perhaps the result of increased confidence in selling further afield and increased global demand for goods and services made in Britain. 

Still today, over half of UK exports land in the EU – a trading relationship that’s worth £650 billion every year. 

Read more: Be prepared for no-deal Brexit, BoE warns lenders

Professor of economics at Aston Business School, Jun Du, commented that: “This evidence suggests that UK exporters are jumping before they’re pushed – finding alternative markets worldwide for their products even before we know the outcome of the current UK-EU trade negotiations and any potential new barriers.

“Of course, we will need to see whether these patterns still hold true in the aftermath of the Covid-19 crisis.”

The government has announced plans for up to 10 freeports to be opened across the UK as part of a wider plan to ‘regenerate communities and turbocharge Britain’s post-Brexit growth’. 

Currently in a 10-week consultation period, the aim is to announce the location of the new zones before the end of the year and to begin operating in 2021.

The hope is that the freeports will boost trade, jobs and investment whilst also creating innovate business clusters and hubs of business and enterprise.

New Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, commented that: “Freeports will unleash the potential in our proud historic ports, boosting and regenerating communities across the UK as we level up. They will attract new businesses, spreading jobs, investment and opportunity to towns and cities up and down the country.

“This is all part of our mission as an open, outward-looking country, championing global free trade with vibrant Freeports that work for all of the UK.”

Read more: Government confirms import controls on EU goods

Businesses secretary Andrea Leadsom also noted that the free ports will help create more jobs whilst underscoring the UK’s commitment to global free trade, whilst Minister for the Northern Powerhouse Jake Berry said that freeports will boost the region in particular.

The model would mean that duty wouldn’t need to be paid if products are re-exported, raw materials can avoid duties until made into the final product and a full customs declaration wouldn’t be required. 

The government says it’s also assessing new tax measures to support investment in infrastructure and machinery around freeports to stimulate productivity and reducing the cost of hiring required workers. 

The cost of additional red tape and paperwork at the border in the event of a no-deal Brexit could reach as much as £15bn according to a new Government paper. 

Filling in customs forms for trade between the UK and European Union would be just the tip of an iceberg of a ‘significant new and ongoing administrative burden’, HMRC warned.

The estimated bill was calculated based on the cost to businesses to complete all necessary paperwork to cover the 215 million export consignments crossing the channel in 2017. Some experts warn that the figure may not be high enough as the additional costs of new VAT procedures for service companies and parcels following a no-deal Brexit weren’t included in the calculations. 

One-off costs to business such as preparing customs declarations were also not included. 

HMRC commented that “The final costs of completing customs declarations will vary significantly from business to business depending on how often they trade.”

For individual businesses, it estimated that each consignment would cost £28 to complete the required forms and take an employee just under two hours to complete. 

Read more: New online tool launched for exporters to report barriers to trade

Experts have warned that the new red tape and unfamiliarity with the paperwork will cause a major drag on trade affecting nearly a quarter of a million businesses. 

If your business is still underprepared for Brexit, learn more about how Go Exporting’s Brexit audit and consultancy can help your business analyse and assess potential threats and create contingency planning for whatever the eventuality of Brexit might be.

A drop in business investments since the EU referendum three years ago has cost the UK economy £20bn, according to new research. 

Findings published in the National Bureau of Economic Research has found that Brexit has resulted in a 11% drop in investment whilst also claiming that productivity has taken a 5% hit as a result of the Brexit process as well. 

The report suggests Brexit has proved a distraction amongst management within UK businesses, somewhat explaining the productivity slide, with 40% of UK firms ranking Brexit amongst their three top sources of uncertainty. 

The paper noted that: “Brexit is unusual in that it generated persistent uncertainty – three years after the original vote, the UK had not left the EU, there was still no clarity on the eventual outcomes, and our survey results show that there was substantial unresolved uncertainty.

The research noted that firms most exposed to a hard exit from the single market and customs union – those with close trading ties and reliance on EU   – had seen the most significant falls in investment levels. The level of investment drop-off was also seen to fluctuate, particularly immediately after the referendum and this year as the previous March 29th Brexit deadline day approached. 

“The huge uncertainty surrounding the process and its persistent nature may have led firms to act cautiously and not cut investment as quickly as might have been expected.”

Not too late to plan for Brexit

The ‘next’ Brexit deadline of 31st October is now a matter of weeks away. Whilst the majority of large organisations have planned in advance, investing millions into moving assets and stockpiling essential supplies, many smaller businesses, in particular, are still massively underprepared and essentially ‘hoping for the best’. 

Read more: £10 million Brexit readiness boost for UK businesses

It’s essential for all businesses who rely on EU trade, travel regularly into the EU or receive data from the continent understand how leaving the EU, either with or without a deal for a transition period, will affect their business operations. 

Learn more about how Go Exporting’s Brexit audit and consultancy can help your business analyse and assess potential threats and create contingency planning for whatever the eventuality of Brexit might be.