Opportunities for Businesses Post-Brexit

• Posted onFebruary 6, 2020

It is fair to say that now we are Post-Brexit we are all in slightly uncharted territory. With us now having left the EU, if you are at the helm of your business, trying to steer it forward you could be forgiven for scanning the horizon with a certain amount of apprehension and trepidation.

But it’s not all bad news, if you can’t control the waters you are sailing in, you can at least control how you react and how you steer your business on these seas of change.  You can do this by carrying out an audit to identify how Brexit might impact your business in the coming months.

Such checks might include;

• Checking how your key contracts might be affected by Brexit;
• Investigating what help you can get to access potential new markets;
• Making sure you register for the new import procedures if this applies to your business;
• Ensuring you have an UK eroi number if you are a UK business trading with other businesses in the EU or outside of the EU;
• Checking if changes to VAT will apply to your business;
• Seeing if you have any employees who are EU/EEA/Swiss nationals who will need to register for the settlement scheme.
• You can get more information on preparing for Brexit from the following websites to name a few. https://www.britishchambers.org.uk; https://www.icaew.com; https://www.gov.uk/business-uk-leaving-eu

Another thing you can control, is your attitude to change. As Sir Winston Churchill once said “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” So you have a choice, you can get blown off course by commercial issues in a wider market, or you can embrace the opportunity to access potential new markets beyond the EU. You can become cast adrift by supply chain issues and changing trading arrangements, or you can look to increase domestic demand and home-grown support. You can be driven off course by those who “jump ship”, or you can look to investment from overseas and pick up business from those leaving the UK.

Look for the opportunities and even in challenging times you will surely find them lurking beneath the surface somewhere. In the meantime, it is likely that there will a transition period before the winds of change are felt, so make the most of it, adjust your sails and set sail, and if you get a little blown off course, we at WSP Solicitors will be on deck to help guide you forward.

Get in touch with Peter or Shelley in our Company Commercial Department today to make your business life, less complicated.