Sectors from automotive to aviation, chemicals to creative industries, and farming and food to pharmaceuticals – are united: securing a quick agreement matters greatly for jobs and livelihoods.
Clarity on an ambitious deal will turbocharge business preparations and increase confidence in the UK as a place to invest. Crucially, it will also help ease the sustainable implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
It follows an intervention earlier this week by leading European business groups from France, Germany and Italy, calling for a solution which ensures smooth trading conditions.
The Joint statement said: “Now is the time for historic political leadership. With compromise and tenacity, a deal can be done. Businesses call on leaders on both sides to find a route through.
“The clarity that comes with an ambitious deal will have an instant impact on firms’ efforts to prepare. It will help investment by removing the threat of tariffs and quotas. And it will catalyse confidence through enhanced customs cooperation while making a precious data agreement possible, vital for services industries which make up 80% of the UK economy.
“Businesses are doing what they can to prepare for Brexit. But firms face a hat-trick of unprecedented challenges: rebuilding from the first wave of COVID-19, dealing with the second and uncertainty over the UK’s trading relationship with the EU.
“That’s why more than three quarters of UK firms say they need a deal, quickly.
“With each day that passes, business resilience is chipped away. A swift deal is the single most effective way to support recovery in communities across Europe.
“After four years of debate, there must be a resolution. 2021 can then be a year to rebuild, rather than regret.”
Paul Everitt, chief executive of ADS added: “The UK’s aerospace, defence, space and security industries will face major disruption without a deal, through delays to cross-border trade, costly administrative requirements and a new regulatory system. “Businesses in our sectors are facing a daily struggle to survive as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, which has put 30,000 aerospace jobs at risk. “A deal that delivers global market access and protects sensitive cross-border supply chains is essential".
James Selka, CEO of the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA), representing all technologies that enable advanced manufacturing said: “A deal is vital for the UK Manufacturing sector to encourage investment in an activity that supports 5 million jobs and positively impacts 15% of UK GDP. COVID has impacted the confidence to invest and If a deal is reached, the sector will be able to focus on being a key part of rebuilding our economy.”
Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), representing the UK automotive sector and some 850,000 jobs, commented: “The pandemic has caused immense damage to UK Automotive, costing thousands of jobs and soaking up precious resource. A second blow of tariffs, which would instantly raise prices and destroy competitiveness, would be devastating so we need a deal now - and not just any deal, one that is as free in reality as it is on paper. Only an ambitious deal that delivers for this critical sector will safeguard livelihoods and drive investment into the new skills, facilities and technologies so integral to delivering a zero carbon future for the UK.”
CBI www.cbi.org.uk
MTA www.mta.org.uk