Brexit Survey Reveals Small Businesses Set to Snub US and China Trade Agreements

LEEDS, U.K. - Nov. 1, 2017 - PRLog -- The Brexit campaign was fought on a variety of points relating to trade, but no argument was louder than a potential for better transatlantic and pacific trade agreements. Pro-leavers battled to convince voters that an exit from the European Union would free up Britain's capacity for intercontinental trade, despite Barack Obama's claims that Brexit would put the UK at the "back of the queue". Following the vote, Obama's successor Donald Trump has been much more accommodating of Brexit, claiming it will lead to "very big and exciting" trade opportunities. Currently, no trade agreements have been made, yet it remains one of the primary points of discussion in the Brexit conversation. But are the politicians wasting their time?

Accountancy and business advice firm Russell Smith Chartered Accountants ran a survey of local and regional business owners to gather their opinions on the future of British trade. The survey revealed that just 5% of British SMEs currently working with EU partners or suppliers would seek to take advantage of intercontinental trade deals. Instead, 88% plan on maintaining their relationships following Brexit, even while facing the prospect of increased import and export tariffs.

Director of the company, Russell Smith, was surprised by the results, saying: "There was a lot of chatter about trade with the US, China, Japan, Canada and Australia in the run-up to Brexit, and even more so now. Yet, despite this, SMEs are much more focused on keeping their EU trade arrangements intact. What this survey demonstrates is a real disconnect from the campaigns of Brexit and the mindset of our country's small business owners".

The new results shed some light on the true feelings of small businesses in the UK, which make up 99.3% of all private sector companies operating Britain. Of the 12% that would look to change their trading relationships, 7% said they would move to domestic options, making intercontinental trade the least favourable option amongst the community.

"Even with the increased cost of trading, maintaining relationships with EU member states in a post-Brexit landscape has it's appeal to British businesses.Whether out of loyalty, ease of access, current levels of satisfaction or apprehension of investing resources in finding new trading partners, it's clear that the SME trading landscape in the UK will remain very Euro-centric even after we officially leave the EU", says Russell Smith.

In the survey run by Russell Smith Chartered Accountants (https://rsaccountancy.co.uk/?utm_source=pressoutreach&amp...)  it was revealed that 80% of small businesses in the UK would support a freedom of movement agreement akin to that currently in place with Norway. The accountancy firm also discovered that 18% of SME owners who voted leave would change their vote in a second referendum, while only 8% of remainers would shift to leave. This is likely due to the fact that only 2% of British small business owners believe the government provided satisfactory information about the impact Brexit would have on the nation's economy in the run-up to the vote.

For the full details of this survey, visit: https://rsaccountancy.co.uk/2017/09/26/uk-sme-brexit-statistics-survey-unearths-business-owner-opinions/