Opinion-in-brief: Brexit barriers are hampering our small businesses
The energy and ambition of Britain’s start-up community is palpable. According to the latest research from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, two-thirds of UK adults are looking to start a business in the next three years.
Compared with the start-up ecosystem of a few years ago, today’s firms are forging ahead with an eye to the international market. Call it post-Brexit belligerence, or a can-do attitude, we’re not complaining.
A new report from Enterprise Nation and GS1UK shows 75 per cent of start-ups and small firms now see international trade as a viable route to growth. That is a seismic shift.
But they are being let down woefully by unfathomable regulatory constraints, and counter-intuitive logistics, causing hours of extra work and piling on the costs.
Brexit complexity appears to have coincided with a huge boom in new and small exporters and the system is testing these fledgling businesses.
Existing guidance needs to be simplified for small businesses. We need a central hub where SMEs can “bulk buy” to reduce shipping costs. This could be a multi-million pound golden opportunity. Start-ups have stepped up the exporting plate; it’s time to solve the Brexit barriers. Let’s go