One in three UK business owners fear their company could close this year as the Brexit onslaught intensifies, new data has shown.
A country-wide survey byOne World Express revealed 73 per cent of the entrepreneurs polled said their business had seen zero benefit from the UK’s departure from the EU.
A third believe their company won’t last the year, while 37 per cent think their business won’t survive beyond the end of 2027.
The figures show that a quarter of UK businesses were significantly impacted by Brexit last year and one in three of respondents said their company experienced difficulties when attempting to secure working visas for EU based employees in 2021, while 43 per cent faced supply chain disruption.
“Brexit was always going to present challenges to UK businesses, but these have been compounded by the pandemic,” explained Atul Bhakta, CEO of One World Express.
“This double threat has resulted in staff shortages and supply chain problems, with Brexit adding new red tape on top of this.”
“With further uncertainty created by the Omicron variant, it is little wonder that so many business leaders are concerned about the survival of their organisation,” Bhakta added.
He pointed out many businesses are looking at non-EU markets now.
“Indeed, trade between UK and non-EU countries have remained strong throughout 2021. After all, customs rules for such countries have remained unchanged despite Brexit, making the pursuit of trade opportunities beyond the EU seem a more attractive prospect,” he concluded.
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