Brexit For Business
What your business needs to know...
Britain left the European Union on 1 January 2021 and as a result, there have been several changes to the way that British businesses will do business with countries within the EU moving forward. I have summarised below a few key pointers as to what you need to know as a result of Brexit.
Recruiting employees from the EU
Many sectors have benefitted from the free movement of labour within the EU. It will no longer be straight forward to employ EU nationals. Under the Withdrawal Agreement, if your employee was already a legal resident in the UK, then they have a right to remain and can apply for residency status. If you wish to employ someone from the EU now, they are only allowed to stay in the UK for more than 90 days to work if they have a relevant work permit or visa. Make sure that you plan if you are looking to take the route of employing a national from the EU in future, the same applies if you have offices in other EU countries.
Trade within the EU
Whilst there is a trade agreement in place, there are several changes from the previous arrangements. There are now tariffs and duties that may need to be paid when importing goods from the EU that were not part of the previous arrangements. The important thing is that you are aware of the rules in place before you start importing to make sure that you aren’t caught out with charges that you weren’t aware of. If you haven't already seen, earlier on this month we released blogs detailing the change in processes for importing goods into the UK and exporting goods from the UK.
Travelling to the EU for work
If you travel for business, you now have a requirement to have at least 6 months remaining in your passport on the day that you are travelling. This does not apply to Ireland, but it does to all other EU counties as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
The European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) will no longer be valid once the one that you have in issue expires. A new Global Health insurance Card (GHIC) will replace it and should be obtained before you travel to an EU country to enable you to use the local healthcare facilities should they be required.
If you drive abroad, you may require an International Driving Licence and if you take your own car ensure that you advise your insurance company before you travel to make sure that your insurance is valid.
Trade with countries outside of the EU
The UK is in the process of negotiating new trade deals with countries from outside the EU which it was not able to do prior to Brexit. The hope is that there will be new opportunities that will arise as a result of importing being cheaper than previously. We will have to wait for further results on this as and when it is available.
If your business trades with counties from abroad and you have any specific queries as to what effect Brexit will have, speak to your relationship partner who will be glad to help.
Or if you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us today.