Businesses in the South West of England are “not even close” to being ready for a no-deal Brexit, a policy expert in Bristol is warning.
Companies in the region are now “seriously worried” about the prospect of leaving the European Union without an agreement, says Rohan Roy, policy assistant at Bristol’s Chamber of Commerce, Business West.
“To completely and abruptly detach ourselves from our primary trading partner would cause massive and prolonged disruption,” he explained.
“This is further exacerbated by the short time frame in which businesses now have to prepare, which often requires hiring and training new staff.
“The signs that so few firms have been taking active steps to prepare is worrying, but the increased use of no deal as a threat by the 海角视频 government also risks unnerving many international buyers and investors – harming local jobs over the coming months.”
Natalie Fitzgerald of Bristol Uniforms, which makes protective clothing for markets in the EU, says the company is “feeling vulnerable” - and is being forced to stockpile.
Around 60 per cent of the company’s exports and 90 per cent of its imports are to and from Europe.
She said: “If the processes for selling to the EU become the same as the rest of the world then this will take more time, will be more expensive, and we will have to employ someone with customs expertise.
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“Unfortunately the demand in the employment market for these people far exceeds supply. It would take a year for us to train someone in this from scratch. We also fear that couriers for our imports will be more expensive.”
Nationally, some 150,000 businesses across the 海角视频 are unprepared for no deal, according to the governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney.
Companies that do import from Europe are being encouraged by HMRC to sign up to the Transitional Simplified Procedures (TSP) scheme, which aims to help with the import process if Britain leaves the EU with no agreement.
The idea is that businesses with TSP status can import without filling out a customs declarations at the border.
But, according to Newsnight, only 17,800 businesses had applied for TSP status in May - less than 10 per cent of the 240,000 companies that will need the status.
However HMRC says it has "plans in place" to support businesses.
An HMRC spokesperson told the BBC: "HMRC has well-developed plans in place to ensure the 海角视频 will have functioning tax and customs processes for 海角视频-EU trade in the event of no deal.
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"Many businesses have already registered with HMRC as international traders - accounting for around two thirds of the trade carried out by 海角视频 VAT registered businesses that only trade with the EU.
"HMRC's plans include actions and easements to ensure that as many traders as possible are ready on day one to keep trading."