Eight years after Britain chose to leave the EU, businesses are still lamenting the economic impact of Brexit and there is little prospect of that changing after this week's election.
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“After Brexit we had to close our second shop to cut our losses,” ice cream shop owner Diego Alfonso told AFP, after both parties largely avoided talking about Brexit during the election campaign.
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Alfonso, 37, founded Bertotti with his wife Susana in 2012, four years before Britain voted to leave the EU.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whose Labour party is expected to win Thursday's vote, has ruled out returning Britain to the European single market or customs union or restoring free movement for EU nationals.
Alfonso noted that before Brexit, “it was very easy to get supplies from the European Union.”
“Everything is so bureaucratic now, you have to fill in a lot of paperwork,” he added at his remaining shop in Hammersmith, west London.
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That has increased business costs, hurting companies at a time when economies are emerging from coronavirus lockdowns and inflation is beginning to accelerate in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has sent prices of food and energy soaring in particular.
A scoop of Bertotti gelato, which comes in flavours ranging from lavender to honeycomb and dragon fruit, costs £3.90 – up more than 40% from before the Brexit vote.
Rising prices are hurting demand in countries where the climate doesn't lend itself to year-round ice cream consumption.
“There were many times when I thought I couldn't make it,” said Alfonso, who turned a closed shop into an ice cream-making workshop with the help of ingredients and machinery imported from Europe.
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“Some EU suppliers won't supply us because it's too much work for them,” he said, adding that the price of imported waffle cones has also risen in recent years.
Additionally, new border controls following Britain's departure from the EU are causing delivery delays, extra costs and labour shortages.
The UK in a Changing Europe think tank said the total annual cost of new customs declarations in the UK could be around £15 billion.
Other impacts of Brexit “red tape” include changes to driving regulations and the loss of tens of thousands of young European seasonal workers who were allowed to enter the UK without a work permit.
As a result, Bertotti's workforce decreased.
“It wasn't easy and there were times when I wondered if it was worth it,” Alfonso said.
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“We found new ways to make more money. We started supplying restaurants, going to festivals and getting our name out there.”
“I just broke even, but it's nothing compared to what it was before. This is my passion, my business and my family, so I don't want to quit,” the owner added.
Bertotti is by no means an isolated case: luxury men's clothing supplier Rivet & Hyde says its sales to the European Union have fallen by 50 percent since Brexit came into effect.
Owner Danny Hodgson has increased prices to cover import taxes and export fees, particularly on leather products.
While the business community was largely opposed to Brexit, industries that supported it, such as the fishing industry, acknowledge that leaving the EU has not delivered the economic benefits that were promised.
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The think tank, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and other economists estimate that the long-term cost of Britain's departure from the EU could be around 4% of Britain's gross domestic product.
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