*The British Chambers of Commerce survey found about 56 percent of firms, mostly Small and Medium Enterprises, face difficulties adapting to new rules for trading goods, while 44 percent of businesses have reported challenges in getting visas for their staff

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

Over three quarters of British companies have reported that the trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Britain has made it difficult for them to increase sales and grow their business, a British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) survey has revealed.

ConsumerConnect gathered the survey of over 1,168 businesses, published Wednesday, December 20, 2022, showed significant challenges for UK firms trying to use the Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) that was signed 2020 to allow tariff-free trade with the European Union once Brexit took effect, agency report said.

Shevaun Haviland, Director-General of BCC, stated: “Businesses feel they are banging their heads against a brick wall as nothing has been done to help them, almost two years after the TCA was first agreed.”

About 56 percent of firms face difficulties adapting to the new rules for trading goods, the survey found, while around 44 percent of businesses also reported challenges in getting visas for their staff.

Similarly, 92 percent of the businesses surveyed were Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

A manufacturer in the East Midlands was quoted as saying in the BCC survey report, that “Brexit has been the biggest ever imposition of bureaucracy on business.

“Simple importing of parts to fix broken machines or raw materials from the EU has become a major time-consuming nightmare for small businesses.”

In its proposals to increase UK-EU trade, the BCC, which carries out Britain’s biggest quarterly survey of businesses, has recommended the creation of a supplementary deal with the EU and for the UK to make side deals with the EU and member states to allow UK firms to travel for longer and work in Europe, among others.