The Brexit Withdrawal Agreement came into effect on 1 January 2021, and so far the verdict from businesses is mixed. A new YouGov survey of 2,046 business decision makers reveals that about half (52%) say their company has faced disruption since the beginning of the year as a result.
This includes one in eight businesses (13%) that have experienced a large amount of disruption. A further one in six (17%) say the impact has been moderate, and a fifth report a small amount of disturbance (22%).
Two in five businesses in the survey do a ‘moderate’ or ‘large’ portion of trade with consumers and companies in the EU. Among this group, four in five (80%) have had issues since the start of the year, including a quarter (27%) who have faced substantial disruption.
Large businesses are more likely than small and medium sized enterprises to report disruption from the new agreement, at 67% vs 42%.
Additional research shows that approaching half of businesses (46%) say Brexit will affect them negatively overall. About a third (36%) say it won’t have an impact, and a minority (12%) believe it will benefit them.
Decision makers at companies that routinely trade with the EU take a gloomier view. Most (60%) say things will get worse, while a fifth (22%) expect to remain unaffected, and one in seven (14%) are hopeful that Brexit will have a positive impact.
Meanwhile, the pandemic is having a wider impact, with seven in ten business decision makers (71%) saying it will affect them negatively. Only one in seven (14%) say it will not have any consequences for their company, while 12% believe it will be beneficial.
Most companies impacted by the pandemic and Brexit expect that the former will matter in the short-term, while the implications from the latter will be lengthy.
Three in five businesses that are experiencing positive or negative consequences from the coronavirus crisis (60%) expect a short-term impact. However, negatively impacted companies are more likely to anticipate a brief but big effect (43%) than the group that are benefitting (33%).
Meanwhile, three quarters of decision makers at businesses hampered by Brexit (74%) expect the impact to last for a long time, including 45% who think such impact will be substantial. In contrast, only one in seven companies (14%) expect a small short-term impact.
Only a small minority of businesses point to positives from Brexit. Among this group, half believe they will experience a small (35%) or big (16%) benefit in the short-term. Three in ten (29%) expect it will bring a large and long-term advantage.