Claire Stewart Profile picture
Apr 30, 2021 12 tweets 4 min read Read on X
The implications of Brexit on my small business are that now I have to pay fees to customs agents to verify my imports.
There are not enough of these agents to meet demand.
I have to pay a £75 fee for my goods to take 3-4 weeks longer to arrive whilst they 'process' them.
Since Dec I've read every available piece of information & acted on it in a timely manner.
Huge amounts of time wasted on following poor/wrong information & bad government advice.
Secretive funding provided to help businesses cope ran out before most of us knew it existed!
What I want to know is why the info about funding is part of this section of the government website but isn't mentioned anywhere in the section navigation? It's almost like you only wanted certain people to know about it !!!
Businesses across this country are struggling, having to rely on Dickensian circuitous websites of unbelievable time-sucking non-info, such as referring us to a HUGE list of customs agents, knowing fine well that none of them are taking on any new business.
I have pretty incredible levels of resilience, patience for boring, complicated paperwork & persistence in understanding new things.
Yet at times dealing with this process has made me actually wail in despair. It has sucked the sheer life force out of me on a weekly basis.
I defy anyone to spend more than ten minutes on this section of the government website and not scream with rage. gov.uk/topic/business…
Note that Step 2: Get Someone To Deal with Customs for you, is impossible. There is nobody to do it!
I have no option but to do it myself but there is zero information on how to do that either. Image
Just tagging this thread #BrexitShambles #BrexitReality #BrexitDisaster because I've not even been able to find any info online about other businesses having these issues.
Presumably they're all terrified of being fined or something, or have given up importing.
In summary, implications of #brexit are not just £75 fees, but delays, stress, interruption of business, financial loss, countless wasted hours, extremely unequal 'support' as an import/export underclass has been created & funding is 1st Come Basis SECRET FUNDING.
Also, for context, my business mainly deals with imported goods. Before Brexit I was placing orders At least monthly with 7-8 different suppliers. That's £600 a month minimum. £7200 a year. Just for fees to process them.
Compliance with this 'system' is impossible.
If you didn't already have customs software it's another brand new cost.
You can't learn to use overnight & it's very specialised.
Accountants, Chambers of commerce, I've asked them all, nobody has any answers.
Since this is doing numbers, here's my business of anyone would like some stationery by post. @LandAPaperCo
My suppliers are all lovely and I couldn't do it without them. librariesandarchives.com/shop

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