Business owners in the UK are still feeling the effects of Brexit two years after Britain left the European Union, including some who opted to sever ties with Brussels.
Adrian Hanrahan, CEO of the tiny chemicals company Robinson Brothers, situated in central England and for which the EU is still a significant market, said, “It’s cost, cost, cost with no advantage.”
Customs fees, which have been largely reduced by the post-Brexit free trade agreement between London and Brussels, are not the issue; rather, it is a deluge of additional regulatory paperwork.
“We’ve added probably 25 percent extra now on our administration costs just to cope with the changing paperwork… of getting stuff in from the EU and out of the EU,” Hanrahan told AFP.
The company, which has 265 employees, makes chemicals utilized by a variety of industries, including the food, electronics, pharmaceutical, and other businesses.
Over half of Robinson Brothers’ exports—roughly 70% of its total output—go to the EU.
