On the second anniversary of Brexit, and with huge lorry queues being reported at Dover last week, the BCC is calling for urgent action to improve trade with Europe. With well over half of UK exporters (60%) surveyed by the BCC in November 2021 reporting difficulties in trading with the EU, an increase from 49% in January 2021, it is clear urgent action is needed.
54% of firms say the business support provided by the UK Government in response to Plan B measures is not sufficient in the short term
Connecting job-ready people to vacancies is a welcome move. Our research shows that four out of five firms are struggling to find staff to fill jobs across a wide range of sectors and skill levels.
"News of the end of work from home guidance will be welcomed by business, particularly those based in city and town centres which rely on footfall from office workers."
Inflation will continue to soar in the coming months as surging energy prices, rising raw material costs and the reversal of the VAT reductions for hospitality push it well above 6% by April.
The British Chambers of Commerce has set out its manifesto to recruit legions of new UK exporters as its research continues to show poor overseas trade growth.
Looking at the last six months, a clear picture is emerging of significantly lower EU imports to the UK than three years ago, with a smaller reduction in exports to the EU.
The latest figures confirmed a significant uptick in growth in November, before the emergence of Omicron and the implementation of Plan B. This is likely to be followed by a modest fall in output in December and January, as consumer caution to socialise and spend, and mounting staff absences limit activity.
Businesses are continuing to tell us they are struggling with high levels of absence due to Covid and will welcome the news it is judged safe to further reduce the isolation period. But too many say that staff are also finding it difficult to get the Lateral Flow Tests they need to prove they can return to work.
If agreement can be reached with India on tariff reduction, removing technical barriers to trade in goods and services, and on digital trade it has the best potential of any of the UK’s individual free trade negotiations to date.