Commenting ahead of the publication of technical notices from the government relating to the possibility of ‘no deal’ in the Brexit negotiations, Dr Adam Marshall, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:

“Businesses have waited too long for answers to some basic questions around Brexit – and have been particularly frustrated by the lack of clear guidance on some of the issues that are within the UK government’s own control. ‘No deal’ preparations should have happened far earlier, and the onus is on government to move quickly and give businesses as much detailed technical information as possible to avoid significant disruption in any scenario.

“Our test for the Government’s ‘no deal’ notices is straightforward: do firms now have the clarity they need so that they can continue to conduct business both here at home and across borders on March 30^th 2019?

“Companies need to know how the UK government will handle customs and VAT procedures at the border on day one after Brexit. Companies need to know what the immigration rules will be on day one, both to reassure existing staff and to recruit successfully. Firms need to know what they need to do to ensure that their contracts are valid, their transactions processed, and their rights protected.

“We will be assessing the content of these notices with businesses around the UK – and we will not hesitate to tell ministers if we find the content unclear or unhelpful to business decision-making.”