Three actions to take today in preparing your company for Brexit

We are now 66 days away from the official UK exit from the EU and last week's historic defeat for Theresa May's deal in the house of commons means the future relationship between the two parties remains unclear. Further, regardless of where we go next, we risk waiting a long time before a final agreement is reached, if one is reached at all.

Though the UK remains an attractive market for foreign companies and is likely to do so in the future as well, many firms are still insufficiently prepared for Brexit. Companies that assess their areas of vulnerability and formulate mitigation-strategies will be better prepared for the UK exit and in a better position to compete.

Over the past year I've talked to a lot of companies, ranging from SME's to multi-billion firms about Brexit and how they can prepare for the UK exit from the EU. The most common question I get asked by far is "what should we do?". Though there is no one size fits all mitigation plan, all companies can to prepare. Hopefully, you'll find this insightful in your company's preparations for Brexit.

Three actions to take today

In December last year, the HMRC sent a letter to companies based in the UK to take three actions immediately in order to prepare in the case of a no deal Brexit (you can find the letters published by the HMRC here).

These three recommended actions are to:

1.  Register for a UK Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI) number. An EORI number is needed in a no deal scenario to continue to import or export goods from the UK after Brexit and to be able to apply for easier customs processes later
2. Decide whether to use a customs agent to make import and/or export declarations or to make the declarations yourself
3. Contact the organisation that moves your goods to find out if they will need to supply additional information to complete safety and security declarations, or whether they will need to submit these declarations themselves

With only 66 days remaining before the UK is officially out of the EU, companies need to act fast. Customs agents for instance have never been in such high demand and companies that postpone their decisions risk finding that there are none left to support them. 

What else can companies do?

The three actions detailed by the HMRC can constitute a start for companies affected by Brexit, but they are not enough. Though we do not know the outcome of Brexit, many of the areas potentially affected by it are known. Companies that assess their areas of vulnerability and formulate mitigation-strategies will be better prepared for the UK exit and in a better position to compete.

How are you preparing your company ahead of Brexit? Do you have any other questions you would like me to talk about? Please follow me here on LinkedIn for more updates, even if we're already connected. Thank you!