More than half of UK businesses say they are finding it difficult to trade goods with the EU post-Brexit.
A new poll from the British Chambers of Commerce found that 56 per cent of firms “face difficulties adapting to the new rules for trading goods” with the EU and 77 per cent of firms for which the deal is applicable say “it is not helping them increase sales or grow their business”.
The results showed that 44 per cent of firms surveyed also faced difficulties in getting visas for staff post-Brexit.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has called for an “honest dialogue” on improving the UK-EU trading relationship after it too found Brexit had caused a “significant adverse impact” on trade volumes and business relationships between UK and EU firms.
Shevaun Haviland, director general of the BCC, said: “Businesses feel they are banging their heads against a brick wall as nothing has been done to help them, almost two years after the TCA was first agreed.
“The longer the current problems go unchecked, the more EU traders go elsewhere, and the more damage is done.”
The body is calling for a supplementary deal with the EU that can eliminate or reduce the complexity of food exports for small and medium-sized firms, as well as a Norway-style deal that would exempt smaller businesses from the requirement to have a fiscal representative for VAT in the EU.
Among a number of proposals, it is also calling for side deals with the EU and member states to allow UK firms to travel for longer and work in Europe.
The BCC, echoing the concerns of other business groups, has urged the Government to find an agreement to the ongoing row over post-Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland.
Responding to the concerns, Mark Spencer told Times Radio: “We’re a free and open trading nation. We want to work closely with our EU colleagues, we want to try and reduce that red tape if there is any red tape on their side of the channel, so of course we want to keep those channels of trade open in both directions.”
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