Business leaders have demanded the prime minister answer 20 crucial questions before the 29 March deadline to prevent a chaotic no-deal Brexit.
The British Chamber of Commerce (BCC), the UK business trade body, said that without greater clarity over import and export duties, border controls and customs procedures, Theresa May risked thousands of companies suffering a potentially catastrophic shock when the UK quits the European Union.
Adam Marshall, the BCC’s director general, said British firms could face the biggest change to their terms of trade in over a generation in less than 50 days, “without the information and clarity they need to navigate their forward course”.
The warning came only a fortnight after the BCC said thousands of firms were planning to relocate inside the remaining 27 EU nations to avoid potential hiccups at the border and maintain consistent relationships with customers and suppliers.
Referring to the number of businesses that have publicly triggered plans to move abroad as “the tip of the iceberg”, the organisation said no deal has gone from being “one of several possible scenarios to a firm date in the diary” for its 75,000 members.
A poll by the Institute of Directors (IoD) at the end of last month found that nearly one in three British businesses are planning to relocate some of their operations abroad or have already shifted them to cope with a hard Brexit.
Marshall said the risks were mounting every day for businesses as they headed toward the 29 March deadline.
“There is a very real risk that a lack of clear, actionable information from government will leave firms, their people and their communities hung out to dry,” he said.
“Even those companies trying their hardest to get ready are still in the dark on important matters from contracts through to customs. Many others, who took the decision to wait for the political process to conclude before acting, would face sudden and costly adjustments if a deal is not reached.”
Tens of thousands of small firms were also struggling to cope with the uncertainty, said Mike Cherry, the head of the Federation of Small Businesses.
He said: “By asking for a further two weeks to try and renegotiate a deal with the EU, the government has simply called for further business uncertainty and political paralysis. The government needs to recognise the significant harm this is already doing to our small businesses – put simply, it is making it impossible for them to plan, hire and invest.”
Top of the list of the BCC’s concerns is the likely extra cost of tariffs on exports and the possibility of the UK charging retaliatory duties on imports from the EU, the BCC found.
Firms wanted to know when the government will make available “an official market access database” to provide information about tariffs and duties imposed by different countries alongside details of any trade agreements that are in place.
