A new survey by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) suggests that the government’s push for post-Brexit trade deals is yet to deliver meaningful benefits for smaller firms.
The BCC’s Insights Unit, which gathered responses from 4,638 companies, found that 84% of firms with 10 or fewer employees either receive too few export orders to make a difference or rarely engage in international trade.
Larger businesses appear to be faring better, with 42% of companies employing 250 or more staff reporting growth in export orders. William Bain, the BCC’s head of trade policy, described the widening gap as “deeply worrying” and warned that “the potential merits of new trade deals will not be realised unless small delegators receive more support.”
The UK has signed trade agreements with Australia, Japan, New Zealand and joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), while also holding talks with India and renegotiating a digital trade deal with the United States. Despite these efforts, the BCC’s findings indicate that many small firms remain disconnected from such opportunities.
A recent World Trade Organization review found that UK exports’ contribution to GDP has only returned to pre-crisis levels, and that exports to the EU have fallen by almost 30% since Brexit, with more than 16,000 small firms ceasing trade with the bloc.
Bain said that “new trade deals were only as effective as a company’s capacity to apply them,” urging government investment in “trade education, digitisation, and local export advisers.”
While the Department for Business and Trade has raised UK Export Finance’s lending cap from £60 billion to £80 billion, insiders report that staffing cuts of around 20% have reduced regional export support.
Bain warned that without stronger backing, the UK risks “locking out” small exporters from global markets and undermining the potential growth new trade deals could bring.