ALLIE RENISON
‘We’re here to help you deal with the Brexit unknowns’
In an era of great political upheaval, businesses can only do so much to adapt. At the time of writing, Parliament still hasn’t ratifi ed
Theresa May’s EU withdrawal agreement and she has proposed letting it vote on a no-deal Brexit and any deadline extension if her deal fails to pass again. So much uncertainty makes businesses feel that they’re up the proverbial creek. With this in mind, we’re continuing to
update Business Planning for Brexit, key guidance that we fi rst issued last summer. The latest version outlines the UK’s trading arrangements with the EU as a third country, focusing on a no-deal scenario. One of the contingency measures it covers is the government’s plan to introduce transitional simplifi ed procedures (TSPs) for imports in a no-deal scenario. These would reduce the amount of information that importers are required to enter on customs declarations. Traders would also be able to defer the payment of any duty until the month after the import. TSPs would apply for an initial term of a year from day one of a no-deal Brexit. Firms wishing to take advantage of these must
POLICY VOICE
WHAT YOU TOLD US
Members of the IoD’s Policy Voice group share their views on access to fi nance and the UK’s economic outlook
52
director.co.uk
Seeking enlightenment: while Brexit uncertainty prevails in Parliament, the IoD will continue to keep members abreast of the practical implications
have an economic operator registration and identifi cation number and apply at
gov.uk. Changes to VAT, some more positive than others, would also be inevitable in a no-deal outcome. There would be a loss of access to existing facilitations for cross- border trade with the EU, for instance, but the government would introduce postponed accounting arrangements for both EU and non-EU imports in an effort to aid cash fl ow management. The government is also planning to allow the Bank of England and other fi nancial authorities to, in some cases, relax or even waive regulatory requirements on EU/ EEA-based fi rms accessing British clients and customers in the event of no deal. When it comes to the movement of people, the government will set out plans to ring-fence the legal rights of EU nationals, having come under concerted pressure from organisations including the IoD to do so. Procedures for doing the same for UK nationals across Europe are being put in place country by country. Directors whose fi rms undertake UK-EU data transfers should note that the EU has
Access to finance 29% of
members have sought external finance in the past year. Of those…
found the process easy.
32% 30%
found it difficult.
27% intend
to seek external finance over the next 12 months.
consider approaching a challenger bank for a business loan.
51% would
established safeguards that they can rely on to continue importing personal information – from payroll numbers to marketing data – lawfully from EU citizens. The measures include binding corporate rules and standard contractual clauses, although these can be complex and costly. Our guide is not exhaustive, but the same applies to the information supplied so far by the government. It has still yet to publish what its import tariffs or quotas would be under a no-deal scenario, for instance, while a big question mark hangs over many of its contingency arrangements for trade across the Irish border. Throughout all of these unknowns, we are helping members wherever we can. We encourage you to read the updated guidance and visit the Navigating Brexit hub (
iod.com/brexit), which collates all of the resources we have to offer on the subject, from factsheets to webinars.
Allie Renison is the IoD’s head of Europe and trade policy (@AllieRenison)
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