Small businesses face crippling costs and barriers from post-Brexit bureaucracy – Wales Online

UK businesses that trade with Europe are continuing to have a tough time because of post-Brexit bureaucracy, according to an investigation carried out by the Financial Times.

The problems apply to those wanting to work in EU countries as well as those who import and export goods. Russell Antram, the head of EU trade at the CBI said the multiplicity of rules across 27 countries was a real challenge for the largest of HR departments, let alone small businesses.

As the virus restrictions are removed the complexity firms are facing is becoming clearer, he said. It is essential the UK and individual EU member states make progress in bilateral talks to ease restrictions.

William Bain, head of trade policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) contained more than 1,000 restrictions on cross-border trade in services.

As part of the TCA, British citizens can travel visa-free to the EU and stay for up to 90 days in every 180-day period but this does not necessarily include the right to work.

Sally Stephenson, who runs a stationery and school uniform business in Cowbridge, first spoke to us last year about the huge problems she has faced importing supplies since the UK left the single market and customs union.

She told us: I am currently in negotiation with one of my main school uniform suppliers as the prices have gone up astronomically since last year.

They are going up again in April, then again in May, and again in June! Some of this is due to rising energy prices and the war in Ukraine, but the bulk of the price increase has been coming through since before Christmas and Im sure is Brexit related.

Stock is still subject to quite high minimum order values before European suppliers will send us anything. Earlier my account manager from Depesche was here, placing our next quarterly order for childrens colouring and sticker books, toys and gifts, for despatch direct from their warehouse in Germany.

The minimum order value is now 1,000 - it used to be 250 but its just not viable for them to send orders to the UK for less than 1,000 anymore.

It is frustrating as we have 900 worth of back-ordered goods which are now available and ready to be dispatched, but they wont release them until we have ordered at least 1,000.

In the past they would have been sent out to us automatically as soon as there was 250 worth available.

Ms Stephenson said there were three problems with this: Cashflow - obviously we have to pay a lot of money out in one go now instead of paying for more frequent smaller orders spread out across the year.

Secondly, while Depesche are waiting for us to get to the magic 1,000 threshold, the goods which we previously ordered as a backorder, so that we would have our name down on the waiting list, came into stock, but because we havent reached 1,000 yet, they were sent to other customers instead.

Those lines have now sold out again and we have missed out.

In the past we would have easily been able to get to 250 worth of backorders and they would have sent the products straight out to us as soon as they came into stock.

Thirdly, our ranges are not refreshed as regularly as before, so our customers dont have as many new things to choose from as they used to.

There is then a risk that they wont buy anything at all and will leave disappointed. I had exactly this on Saturday - a customer came in and asked if I had had anything new in since Christmas, as her granddaughter had had all our horse-themed colouring books for Christmas.

She knew that if we had had any new stock since January, her granddaughter would not already have it and she would have been confident to buy. But because of the backorder situation, and because we now only order quarterly, we havent had anything new in - so she didnt buy anything and I lost a sale.

This is what life is like outside the single market and customs union.

Anyone who is surprised has either not been paying attention or fell for the lies of Johnson and others.

A spokesman for the Department for International Trade claimed the TCA contained some of the most ambitious provisions on trade in services ever agreed by the EU.

Together with support from the Export Support Service, expanded export academies and a landmark export strategy, we are ensuring that businesses of all sizes have the support they need to trade effectively with Europe.

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Small businesses face crippling costs and barriers from post-Brexit bureaucracy - Wales Online