[Tosh Crabtree]

Thanks for the update Peter.
All in all , I think the deal is fair enough .

[PeterNI]

Aye - mostly it's small business especially in the food or horticulture sector that are having more problems.

Scots fishermen on East coast are landing their catch in Norway to make it easier to get the fish to EU market (Norway not in EU but is in the EEA)

BBC running a story today of Cheshire Cheese maker opting out of his EU market (each consignment needing a vet cert costing £180.00)

UK govt telling business to employ a customs agent - these guys are not cheap.

The biggest problem going forward will be the 'rules of origin' aspect - no quotas or tariffs apply to UK made goods - there is one year grace before these very complex rules kick in so at least there is some time.

For NI - we are insulated from much of this - we can still trade easily with the EU.

For Ireland trade the one big difference is that ferry capacity direct to the continent has multiplied five fold - in fact I see yet another ship added to the route from tomorrow.

Changed times but business always adapts even if it take a while.

[PeterNI]

Just thought I'd give a quick update on how the FTA post brexit is working out.

Here in NI there has been lots of noise re the NI Protocol - this is mostly a political thing and makes news but not really affecting things on the ground.

in the past 20 years or so when a UK business wanted to 'export' to a EU business all we had to do was log into a EU site, input the customer's vat reg and country and that was it, nothing more needed.

On Jan 4th I was gobsmacked to see that if I was GB I was excluded from the site - yet being NI everything was the same - the NI protocol.

So business has continued as before here - InvestNI are reporting a huge interest from abroad - companies wanting access to UK and EU in one place.

On Financials the UK and EU are still talking - have set themselves end of March but very likely that this will not be met - both sides are hard-balling - EU looking for 'equivalence' (i.e. follow our rules) and UK saying we are not rule takers but we'll not rock the boat.

It will likely drag on and in the meantime the market will decide.

[freddo]

Thanks for the update Peter

[PeterNI]

A week is a long time - UK PM has decided that post brexit will not drag on - so he has replaced Michael Gove with David Frost to be in charge of post-bresit relations with EU.

Lord Frost, a former UK diplomat to EU is recognized as a good negotiator - he was M.Barnier's opposite number is the FTA talks.

Now there are rumours of a 're-set' of UK/EU relations and seems Frost is tasked with sorting the gaps in the agreement - time frame set is short so let's see how it goes.

[freddo]

Definitly a job for a Diplomat certainly not a jumped up politician

[Euphlover]

Definitly a job for a Diplomat certainly not a jumped up politician

A jumped up, sychophantic, ex CEO of Scotch Whisky Association, EX diplomat, and UNELECTED politician at that.

[PeterNI]

"Now there are rumours of a 're-set' of UK/EU relations"

Old saying is to buy the rumour and sell the fact.

EU/UK relations just went backwards re the NI protocol. UK argument is that grace period needs further extension, EU argument is that negotiations were ongoing in how to resolve some difficulties with the protocol and that the UK action without negotiation to extend is outside the agreement.

Reality is the arguments re NI protocol are political and not commercial - but it's not business people in charge.

Now likely legal action by EU - more to come - in the meantime trade flowing well.

[Tosh Crabtree]

Well said Athos.
The EU don't like it up them.

[PeterNI]

Trade data now available for Jan - considerably down - France to UK 13%/ Germany 30%/ Italy 38%

Difficult to establish the reasons likely both Brexit and covid.

The Brexit part is nothing to do with politics - it's just the change in logistics so will take time to get sorted. Previously if I were in Italy selling to UK business the transaction was seamless and no extra bureaucracy, not so now.

An old saying 'time is money' but not for the road carriers - they get paid by the km so rates have increased to account for down time.

Freight links from Ireland direct to EU have changed dramatically - Stena alone reporting an increase of 102%. - There are 36 sailings up from 12 same time last year. Some operators have announced plans to increase further post-covid.

Some shops in EU were reporting shortage of UK food - well know British shop in Belgium had to close - reopened again after getting stock from Ireland.

That's how business gets around problems - adopt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InhQxhLa1BE