North East business leaders call on PM to ‘take ownership’ of Brexit problems – Business Live

A leading North East business group has urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to acknowledge that his Brexit deal is causing major difficulties for firms in the region.

The North East England Chamber of Commerce has written to Mr Johnson to say that Brexit has led to a drop in exports as well as difficulties such as shortage of HGV drivers and increased costs related to added bureaucracy.

The Chamber fears Ministers could further damage businesses in the region by seeking free trade deals elsewhere around the world that diverge too far from EU regulations and make it difficult to trade with our nearest neighbours.

Read more:'EU workers have left and aren't returning'

Its letter comes after a poll of members found 75% of exporters said Brexit had had either a negative, or very negative impact on their companies. Meanwhile, official figures earlier this month showed that exports from the North East to Europe had fallen 11% in the first three months of the year.

In the letter, Chamber chief executive James Ramsbotham said that the issued faced by businesses are wide-ranging and complex and cannot be dismissed as teething problems.

He said: This large range of different issues means that there is, unfortunately, no single simple solution.

Businesses have felt unsupported through this period of hardship by their Government and, in many cases, feel that Government is unwilling to even acknowledge that these hardships exist.

The concerning findings of our survey resonated with regional trade data, recently released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). In Quarter 1 of 2021 the first quarter under the new trading arrangements North East goods exports to the European Union fell by 13.2%, or 264m, while imports fell by an even greater 22.4%, or 461m, when compared to the final quarter of 2020.

The respective figures for non-EU exports and imports were 7.8% and 6.2% falls. The disproportionately large fall in trade between the North East and the EU, compared to trade with non-EU nations, makes it incredibly difficult to see past EU Exit as the primary driver behind this fall, rather than the pandemic and its associated restrictions on economic activity.

Mr Ramsbotham added that North East businesses would be crucial to the Governments levelling up ambitions, and called on the Government to take ownership of the Brexit deal and address the problems it has caused.

Downing Street has been contacted for comment.

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North East business leaders call on PM to 'take ownership' of Brexit problems - Business Live