roundtable
companies. For example, a business visa to enter the UK is about 10 times more expensive than anywhere else in the world. If an overseas businessman coming to Europe to search for a supplier faced an additional cost of £1,000 to come to UK (plus travel costs), he would likely conclude that access to all of the other European counties on the lower priced Shengen visa would be a much better deal.”
Bradley agreed: “The Government needs to provide a better service.”
Henley: “Sometimes you can’t get visas approved. Other problems are localised, and change all the time. Some arrangements work well, for example, our engineers can obtain one work permit covering most of the Gulf state countries.”
Trade chambers and other local support
Local companies lack strong support networks and this can hinder growth, according to the panelists. The UK is particularly weak compared with countries like France and Germany, they believed.
Thomas said: “In the UK, businesses are more fractionalised. We don’t have one local voice for business and we are missing a trick. I think policies in countries like France are more focused at a regional level on businesses in their area. We don’t quite have that here and it tends to be up to individual companies to engage with their chambers rather than the other way round.”
Went: “The Government needs to focus on building a more coherent industry strategy. We have Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), Business South, Chambers of Commerce and trade organisations. They have been diluted down – someone needs to get to grips with it.”
Brexit uncertainties
Thomas: “Brexit is creating uncertainty over tariffs, duties and being able to move goods freely. I’m having to position our business defensively for Brexit. We are Increasing the footprint of our Polish facility, but we don’t know what things will be like post-Brexit in two years. We have to believe the UK Government will allow workers from the European Union who are already domiciled here, to stay. I think people will still come to the UK if they can’t get work in their own country.”
Towner said he expected to see reciprocation for workers, while Bradley noted that the value of sterling would make the UK less attractive for people to work here.
Impact of technology
While technology is making it easier to conduct business, that isn’t always that case, as Went observed: “We still have to send documents by fax to some countries because their technology isn’t reliable enough.”
Cyber security is a growing threat. An audience member said a cyber attack on one of their customers had forced them to shut down their operation. Stoter pointed out that the UK has some of the world’s most advanced technology. “We should remember we are world leaders in many areas of technology. We need to commercialise that technology or we could lose our lead very quickly.”
Thomas: “We embrace technology. We are investing in automatic forklifts that can work at night with no supervision, but now I read that there may be future taxation implications for investing in technology that may be perceived to take away jobs. This is not the intent it is more a way to increase productivity in a more cost-effective way allowing for growth. Changes in data protection laws may also be a minefield for businesses.”
Where to find government support
An audience member acknowledged that the Government offers a lot of programmes for exporters, but asked: “Many businesses don’t know where to get advice. Is there a platform with information?”
Stoter: “The ‘Exporting is Great’ website (
export.great.gov.uk) is ideal if you are a small business starting out in export. If you are already an established exporter or want extra, more specific information, it’s probably best to talk directly to an adviser as well. You can find contact details on ‘Exporting is Great’.”
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – NOVEMBER 2017
Matthew Bradley
Mitzi Swanson
David Murray
businessmag.co.uk 63
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