New report aims to help Sheffield firms facing messy Brexit

Toby Harper, of Sheffield-based Harper James Solicitors, has produced ‘Preparing For Brexit’ with solicitor Sarah Gunton.

It comes as Doncaster Chamber warns of the triple threat of a resurging coronavirus, receding government support and a ‘disorderly and messy’ end to the transition period.

The report advises firms to:

* Monitor announcements about new foreign tariffs that could apply to goods

* Review contracts to understand how the different Brexit outcomes may impact them

* Check which goods or services are procured from the EU

* Speak to suppliers and service providers about their plans for Brexit

* Ask whether suppliers are stockpiling to cover border delays

* Contact lenders about temporarily increasing cash flow and consider locking in currency prices at current rates

* Keep up to date with changes to UK data protection law after Brexit

Mr Harper said: “As business owners, we don’t like uncertainty. The government now needs to provide regular, clear and updated advice on what our withdrawal looks like and how it will impact on companies across the UK.”

With fewer than 100 days to go, companies are unprepared and have ‘significant unanswered questions’ despite government publicity campaigns, Doncaster Chamber’s Business Insight survey found.

It states:

· 32 per cent of firms felt unprepared for Brexit

· 73 per cent felt government was unprepared for Brexit

· 19 per cent felt Brexit will make it ‘very unlikely’ they would look overseas for opportunities or customers

· Over 25 per cent felt Brexit will make it ‘very unlikely or unlikely’ to have overseas suppliers

The figures come as Sheffield City Region bosses have renewed calls for £1.7bn from government to avoid the threat of mass insolvencies on a par with the Great Depression. Its Renewal Action Plan seeks support for 25,000 businesses over the next 18 months.

British employers planned 498,000 redundancies in the first five months of the Covid crisis, according to the BBC. The government’s furlough job retention scheme ends this month.

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