BUSINESSES in Wiltshire have expressed their grave concerns about how life after Brexit will change things for the worse.

Concerns are growing amongst businesses in Wiltshire about how the government’s position on customs and trade will hurt them in the long run, such as not being able to provide jobs for locals.

These concerns include the likelihood of having to do more paperwork for exporting into the European Union, leaving the customs union, trade agreements, tariffs and damaging pan-European supply chains.

Clyde Williams, from Holt manufacturer Radox Radiators, said: “Our French market is showing the most growth promise of all at the moment. The great thing is we can easily send an item to Paris and it gets there in 24-48 hours. It is an incredibly smooth operation.

“I would be extremely worried by any move away from this frictionless system. If government thinks it is an intelligent move to start to introduce barriers to this sort of business, they are not acting in the best interests of my firm, the local economy or of the wider population.”

Andrew Varaga, MD of Bradford on Avon safety valve business Seetru Ltd, added: “We must avoid at all costs customs formalities or additional bureaucracy for imports and particularly exports. We supply just-in-time into Europe and placing delays and administration/bureaucratic overheads into the export process will kill our business. We will face a next to impossible task in turning round the necessary export documentation in these short times.

“At present our goods are EU origin, our EU customers do not want to undertake the administration overheads necessary for the use of non-EU origin goods, and so, at present, they will not take on new suppliers from the UK because of this.”

“We are suffering ‘Brexit blight’ in our current sales to Europe.”