Businessman may move NI firm south due to 'shambles' of Brexit

The businessman said the cost of importing goods from GB has almost doubled due to the red tape required post-Brexit.

He said shipping to the EU had also been affected with confusion over VAT and added package handling charges.

"It makes us so uncompetitive in Europe it's beyond a joke," the businessman said.

He said he had attempted to find clarification by contacting the Department for the Economy and using Government advice websites, but was none the wiser.

"I was assured by everyone it was frictionless, that a border in the Irish Sea was nothing to worry about," the businessman said.

"It's not frictionless trade between GB and NI - it's an absolute shambles."

The businessman said he had staff working in Northern Ireland who could lose their jobs as a result of the uncertainty. He also cited concerns over what will happen when a grace period on goods travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland ends on March 31.

"How do you forward plan for a business?" he asked.

"We're going to have to move to some sort of warehousing and it'll not be in Northern Ireland.

"I'll move the whole thing to the south and trade with the EU," the businessman added.

"We've had double digit growth every year from when we started 15 years ago, you build it up to what it is and go away for Christmas and come back and all of a sudden this is what you're faced with. It's incredibly frustrating." Meanwhile, Ulster Unionist peer Lord Empey said he was angered by the UK Government's continued denial of an Irish Sea border.

It comes after he received a response to parliamentary questions concerning the NI Protocol.

He said that when he used the term 'Border Inspection Posts' in his question to the NIO, "the answer came back as 'existing point of entry facilities!'"

"The term Border Inspection Posts is a direct quote from the revised Protocol proposed by the Prime Minister to the EU on 2nd October 2019," he said. "Also, the NIO answer confines itself to 'facilities for checking animals and agrifood products' whereas all manufactured goods are included in the Protocol, again as suggested by the Prime Minister.

"If these posts are indeed 'existing' then why is it costing £50m? The Government is trying to downplay the implications of the protocol for the movement of goods and denies that what has been agreed constitutes a border," Lord Empey said.

"There is no free movement of goods to Northern Ireland and never will be as long as the protocol exists.

"This is all very frustrating for businesses and for the general public, who are learning fast that some of their orders are cancelled or only being delivered at extra cost, and we are less than two months away from the end of the derogation for supermarket products.

"I call on government to be open and honest, and sit down with political and business leaders to thrash out a long term solution with the EU that works for all."

Yesterday the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) tweeted advice for businesses. After following the link users were advised "this page has been withdrawn because it's out of date". A number of Twitter users drew attention to the mistake. The NIO later corrected the error.

Belfast Telegraph