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The British businesses being strangled by Brexit red tape.
According to a new report commissioned by the European Movement UK, companies are now getting strangled by red tape.
Red tape, lack of workers, huge hikes in overheads – Britain’s small and medium enterprises have sustained a disproportionate amount of the damage,” said Sir Vince Cable, the former Lib Dem leader who is now president of European Movement UK.
Almost 2000 businesses responded to the survey, out of which a staggering 94% said leaving the single market and customs union had harmed their operations.
Carol owned a bespoke lingerie business in the South West but had to shut it down because of red tape. She said in the report: “I did everything I could to prepare for Brexit. The reality of sending garments to the EU was a nightmare. I had goods that spent ages in transit and were then returned for ‘incorrect customs information’. The business was losing money, so I decided to close. Brexit was the final nail in the coffin.”
Hugh Chapman, who runs Long Mynd Cider in Bishops Castle, Shropshire, was another respondent damaged by Brexit. Chapman said a Europe-wide organisation was interested in buying and distributing his products, however, the “life-changing” deal then fell through.
Darren Farrell, who runs DARJAC Engineering in Essex and specialises in servicing high-end cars, said trade had vanished for his business because of Brexit. “Within nine months of the UK government signing the Trade and Co-operation Agreement with the EU, seven out of ten EU suppliers said that they could no longer support third country shipping & warranty,” he said. “We can’t move our customers’ vehicles to race events on the EU mainland without huge cost, including temporary export permits that take many hours. Two years on, we could no longer support the losses. Our business is finished.”