Here's the thing. I'm a UK-based freelancer. EU27 clients, who for years accounted for 95% of my income as a translator, are simply no longer approaching me. I used to receive 10-20 approaches per week and I built my career on this core demand for my services.
And why would they contact me now? They have no idea what doing business with me will involve from March 2019. There are hundreds or possibly thousands of translators in my language pair resident in the EU. It's simpler just to switch to them.
Post-Brexit, when the uncertainty turns to whatever certainty we have foisted on us, I don't expect this to change. Whatever new systems we have will involve clients adapting to something different. Clients don't like that, it's a hassle, it costs money. My competitors win.
Now multiply this by however many UK operations export to the EU. For exporters of goods and of more tightly regulated services, the situation is a whole lot worse, believe me.
Our government is deliberately placing UK business at a competitive disadvantage. Let that sink in.
Our government is deliberately placing UK business at a competitive disadvantage. Let that sink in.
