Britain has left the European Union, taking Remain-supporting cities like Liverpool with it. And after years of fierce debate, deliberation and negotiations, the dust appears to be settling at last.
Following modest support for Leave from the western-facing port city prior to the 2016 vote, an argument has since emerged that Liverpool will thrive post-Brexit simply due to its geography.
On a visit to Liverpool in February last year, Woody Johnson, the then-US ambassador to the 海角视频, said so himself.
READ MORE: 14 growing firms creating thousands of jobs in Manchester, Liverpool and across the North West
With just months having passed since 'Brexit Day' on January 1, there have been widespread reports of lorry driver shortages, supermarkets running low on produce and hospitality firms struggling to find staff. It’s important to note that the Covid pandemic has also been a factor in some or all of these issues.
So what impact has there been in Liverpool so far - a city region known for its hospitality, manufacturing and maritime sector, among others?
BusinessLive spoke to prominent business leaders to determine the early indications of the impact Brexit will have on Liverpool in the long term.
Is it a damaged port city - or one looking to prosper in a post-EU Britain after early signs of hope?
Most Read
Don't miss a thing - sign up for your free North West newsletter - and follow us on LinkedIn
Email newsletters
BusinessLive is your home for business news from around the North West- and you can stay in touch with all the latest news from Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, Cheshire, Lancashire and Cumbria through our email alerts.
You can sign up to receive daily morning news bulletins from every region we cover and to weekly email bulletins covering key economic sectors from manufacturing to technology and enterprise. And we'll send out breaking news alerts for any stories we think you can't miss.
Visit our email preference centre to sign up to all the latest news from BusinessLive.
For all the latest stories, views, polls and more - and the news as it breaks - .
Elena Enciso, international trade manager at the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, the voice of the city’s businesses, said the post-Brexit period had so far caused confusion for many members - with the two biggest problems being additional costs and increased documentation.
Despite tariff-free trade agreed in the historic deal signed on Christmas Eve last year, British firms’ access to the EU market still faces significant barriers due to aspects such as ‘non-tariff barrier costs’.
Describing a “nightmare of paperwork” and many firms being “overwhelmed”, Ms Enciso said: “It's not like just going to do trade with Japan or Australia is going to solve the problem.
"Continuing trading with Europe is still very important as for many companies, it is still their main trading partner.
"So customs declarations and papers are going to stay, and they incur additional costs.
“Increased documentation is also a problem - particularly for the food sector - with health certificates, agricultural licences, catch certificates for those that export fish. It’s a nightmare of paperwork and it’s overwhelming for many SMEs.
Don’t miss
“I would say we are learning by doing. These are still unchartered territories for many of the businesses.
“The guidance is so overwhelming that to keep up to date, you need to be reading new regulations all the time and not everybody has the time to do that because they have a business to run.”
Ms Enciso said it was difficult to determine the impact of Brexit on businesses due to its combination with Covid - with the pandemic “accelerating crisis” for many.
But she said firms in the region had been forced to invest vital cash by opening new sites in the EU - or taking on extra staff with relevant skills and customs experience.
She said aside from the new 海角视频 Global Import Tariff, which makes imports cheaper and easier, and the fact it has given organisations like hers “more relevance” due to the extra guidance so many now need, determining any positive Brexit impacts for Liverpool is a “struggle”.
“What everybody needs to understand is that we have left the most ambitious form of trade cooperation with Europe, which is the single market,” she said.
Latest Liverpool City Region Business News
“Nothing is ever going to be as good as having a single market in 28 countries. We now have to navigate 27 VAT systems.
“Liverpool businesses will get on with it, they are resilient, and they will find ways. But they’re accepting that the profits may diminish a little bit.
“Some of them are so keen, they're absorbing the extra costs of their customers so they don't scare them.
“They are finding a way to continue, but accepting that there’s going to be a cost for it.”
Paul Cherpeau, CEO of the chamber, said there was an element of regret from the Liverpool business community about leaving the EU.
He said: “The economic benefits do not outweigh the economic costs of that decision.
That's not a political statement, it is simply a fact as it stands at the moment.”
He said the chamber has launched a campaign with local authorities to focus on how businesses have adapted - and the extent to which they have had to invest in new ways of working, and how they intend to flourish internationally moving forward.
He added: “There is a lot of bullishness as you would expect, and a lot of determination to get through this and prosper going forward.
“I think we can look forward to a successful period in the medium to longer term.
"What we're dealing with now is a mix of adjusting costs but also systematic challenges that need addressing, and businesses don't have a huge amount of agency - let’s face it.
“If those elements can push together reasonably successfully, coupled with an expansion of businesses that are looking to trade overseas for the first time and don't have all the baggage of adjusting to the new circumstances, then we will be okay.”
He said a new export strategy is currently being developed alongside the combined authority in a bid to create a “clear strategic approach” to what is a “huge challenge”.
He added: “Our businesses are going to need substantial amounts of support, whether they are continuing to adapt to the environment they're trading in, or whether they are looking to develop those new market opportunities, either outside of the EU, or even one of those 27 countries that we now need to deal with.”
Follow North West Business Editor Tom Houghton
Tom Houghton is the North West Business Editor for BusinessLive and Reach plc titles.
You can follow Tom on Twitter , or contact him on .
Email him on tom.houghton@reachplc.com.
Keep up to date with the latest breaking news in the North West here.
Sign up to our fantastic daily email updates for the region .
Follow and on Twitter
Mr Cherpeau said despite Liverpool’s “geographical advantage”, it’s not a case of assuming that the city will benefit just because its port faces west - and towards the USA.
He said: “Ultimately, it's about the relationships that are built between businesses, that includes business development activity of those in local ports.
“It's about thinking about business to business transactions and how they are developed.
“So it's not just a simple flick of the switch, and businesses saying, ‘we'll go from Liverpool’ as opposed to an Eastern-facing port.
“So there is a geographical benefit, but there's a huge amount of work that has to go into building and maintaining relationships between businesses, across different geographies across different borders. We can't underplay that.
“We need a substantial investment approach to make sure that relationships can be built, trust can be built, and those material tangible benefits geographically can also be met.”
One part of the city’s industry certainly seeing a post-Brexit rise in activity is port logistics. That’s been shown in recent weeks not least by Peel Ports Group - the owner of the Port of Liverpool - continuing to invest heavily in operations in the city.
Last week, its £400m Liverpool2 project continued at pace, and an additional 15 acres of yard capacity as part of the scheme’s next phase.
Once completed, Peel Ports said Liverpool2 will provide global shipping companies reliable access to major import and export centres at the heart of the 海角视频, to further increase capabilities and support increased demand.
For Chris Shirling-Rooke, CEO of Mersey Maritime, there’s “a lot of optimism” that Brexit will boost a “global” Liverpool.
He said: “You're seeing more shipping lines coming to Liverpool, a lot of new investment, because with Brexit, we’re only talking about Europe, but we have the whole rest of the world to go at.
“You see all of these new free trade agreements being announced by the Government - well, the odds are that the ships are going to come to Liverpool. They’re not going to go to east coast ports. They will come to Liverpool, which is one of the most modern in the world.
“Maritime, by its very nature, looks outwards, we don't look inwards. We trade globally and Liverpool is a global port.
“I think the Government has switched onto this for the first time in generations - we put £45bn a year in tax into the exchequer, for example.”
He added: “There's a huge focus on global trade, there's a huge focus on shipbuilding and there's a massive focus on decarbonisation.
“These are all opportunities that we have in this region - shipyards, ports, professional services, engineers, offshore - to really make the most out of these opportunities.
“The fact is, psychologically, that we are looking globally. I can tell you anecdotally that we have a number of German and Dutch businesses now moving into the North West because actually, they’re seeing the opportunities of transatlantic trade more here than in the EU.
“This is a global gateway, not specifically for Europe. Paperwork is paperwork. Businesses are finding a way around it and understanding it - it’s like everything you do in business.”
Playing down the significance of Brexit on the region’s maritime sector - particularly in comparison to the Covid “nightmare”, Mr Shirling-Rooke added: “We just need to get on with Brexit - just crack on. it's almost gone past us, if that makes sense.
“Brexit is one of 100 things, maybe even 1,000 things that have affected maritime over the last 300 or 400 years.
“We've had the war of independence, we've had emancipation, we've had pandemics, global wars, loads of stuff.
“95% of all of our food, fuel and supplies comes by ship. So actually, we have the history and the knowledge to ride this out, and see it through.
“It's just another issue, an opportunity to take.”
Mr Shirling-Rooke was also asked about the Liverpool City Region becoming one of eight locations in England by the Chancellor at his Spring Budget earlier this year - and how that will differ from being a port within the EU.
He said: “Each one will have their own separate governance. Regionally, I think it's a brilliant idea, but I think the name is terrible because people will think about what freeports used to be - but these are completely new things. These are more like Global Trade Zones.”
He explained that imports will be allowed to enter with simplified customs documentation and without paying tariffs.
The freeport will be designed to specifically encourage businesses that import, process and then re-export goods
Mr Shirling-Rooke, who is also assistant chairman of Maritime 海角视频, added: “We'll be able to attract businesses to move there to create jobs, we'll be able to make financial benefits and for firms to move into one of the poorest regions in the 海角视频 and create jobs. That is no bad thing.”
The plan is hoped to create up to 14,000 new jobs for the city region as well as £850m in total gross added value, and he added: “I am optimistic. Anything that we can do to level up our region has got to be good.
“The big fear I had with the freeport project was that we might not get one and that would put us at a massive disadvantage.
“But it happened, our application was very, very strong, and very warmly received. And I think governance is really good.”
So is it better for the city region to be a conventional port within the EU - or a freeport outside?
Mr Shirling-Rooke said he “absolutely” thinks having a freeport here will benefit the region more than the EU “status quo”.
He said: “There's not a doubt in my mind about that, but I think it's linked with other things.
“It's linked with the Government levelling-up agenda, it’s linked with post Covid recovery, and the decarbonisation opportunity that we have here is huge, as maritime is a big polluter.
“Now, if we can find some of the solutions in this region - and we have some of the best maritime universities in the world and some of the best shipping lines in the world, some of the best engineers in the world - that would be fantastic.
“You throw in freeports and well, and that becomes quite an interesting cake that we're going to bake.”
Steve Crane, managing director of shipping and logistics specialist Brunswick International, said leaving the EU has been “phenomenal” for his and other similar firms working around the Port of Liverpool.
In May, the firm, which specialises in customs clearance at 海角视频 ports, opened a new £2m premises in Hunts Cross, reporting that business within the EU had increased five-fold since Brexit.
He said his firm took on staff ahead of January’s Brexit date, anticipating an influx in demand.
He said: “Work levels have gone up hundreds of percent because of Brexit.
“The customs department used to look after deep sea movements from America and China. But now with Brexit, we are clearing vast amounts of trailers and shipments per day from the EU. That's just the way it's changed, and with that comes more staff requirements.”
Mr Crane said that with even more documentation related to food import licences set to be required from January onwards, “things are getting busier and busier”.
He added: “The workload is just continuous for us. It just doesn't seem to be getting any less, and with this comes all the work as well, in shipping, warehousing and transport.
“For our industry, it's phenomenal, and we and others are creating jobs to match the demand.
“All of the companies in the sector I’ve spoken to have seen something similar. Many are actually refusing work because they’ve got too much of it and they haven’t got enough staff availability.”
Mr Crane said he has seen Brexit as a success for the 海角视频, adding: “I wanted to leave for political reasons and for selfish reasons because I knew what it would do for the business.
“I still think that we have now proven the point that we are a really strong country.
“We are standing alone on our own two feet.
“Business-wise, having spoken to a lot of companies, okay - some were affected by it because of their connections in Europe - but generally, I found that we've been very strong throughout, and we're getting stronger as a country as well. I think we're doing really well.”
Even the pandemic has not managed to hamper progress at Brunswick, and Mr Crane added: “It's a crazy business, you'd think Covid would slow things down, but it's not in our business.
“There's never been a quiet time ever, throughout the pandemic and Brexit. it just keeps going and going.”
For the majority of Liverpool City Region businesses working outside the port and logistics sector, the only certainty over the past 18 months has been uncertainty.
Like for the rest of the 海角视频, industries have been crippled by the lethal effects of the pandemic. And for many, that, coupled with Brexit has created a “perfect storm”.
That’s the case for the city’s hospitality sector, as Paul Askew, chef patron of The Art School restaurant and joint-chair of Liverpool Hospitality Association recently told BusinessLive.
He said that despite demand returning following nationwide lockdowns, scores of employees have already left the now-"high-risk" sector for other jobs in logistics, telesales and deliveries.
Young workers have returned to their home countries and a new points-based immigration system now in place has severely hampered the city's hospitality venues, with many now reducing the hours they open - and fears raised for the future of popular, successful businesses.
Raising fears for the future of the city’s sector, Mr Askew said: "My idea of what they were hoping to achieve through the immigration law was immigration based on the demand and based on the need of the country. So when there was a need for qualified people, like there was in the NHS, nurses came from all over the world.
"I would hope that the government can now see that it's incredibly urgent and that we absolutely incentivize hospitality professionals from across Europe to come here.
"There is a genuine shortage, a genuine need - and it doesn't look like the British workers are going to come back because we've seen a migration from hospitality into logistics, into Amazon, into telesales, into delivery drivers.
"That's because we're now perceived as a high risk sector because of the way we've been treated through the lockdowns.
"People need job security, they need to be able to put food on the table and unfortunately, that sort of middle management supervisory level where there were quite a lot of British staff as well as European staff, has vanished."
Another notable Brexit impact is its effect on already-stretched supply chains. The Road Haulage Association reported last week the situation has reached “crisis point” with a shortage of 100,000 drivers.
Liam Kelly, CEO of social enterprise Make CIC, and chair of Baltic Triangle Area CIC, said his firm has experienced multiple supply chain problems.
He said: “The most noticeable challenges we’ve faced is with building commissioned work and our plans to build more work spaces.
“We’ve seen the price of materials skyrocket, in some cases double, from this disaster mix of pandemic backlog and Brexit red tape.
“That’s creating a cocktail of high inflation. Just as everyone has been burdened with state debt and other lending to survive and get going again. The Government needs to be right on top of this.
“It’s hard to determine, at this point, what is impact from the pandemic and what is impact from Brexit, or both. But most noticeable is for those who trade abroad being stung by additional red tape; the very thing many thought they were voting to end.
“Those businesses seem most concerned with how arrangements may continue to unfold, such as the EU and 海角视频 ceasing to provide reciprocal protection to intellectual property. It feels like the uncertainty around details will continue for quite some time yet.”
Asked how businesses in the city’s creative sector view Brexit, Mr Kelly responded: “It has been completely eclipsed by the impact of lockdowns.
“At this point it doesn’t seem that there is much reflection about it. For many, despite their preference, they are keen to see the back of it.
“I personally voted to remain and seeing some of the impacts materialise is frustrating, but I’d be a fool to wish them to do damage. I’m looking forward to Brexit and the pandemic being consigned to the history books.”