The Small Firms Association (SFA) have today released a survey which highlights the impact of Brexit on small firms.
The Brexit Survey was conducted in July 2016 and 780 responses were received from a sample group of 2,500 SFA member companies. It found that exchange rate movements (48%), cost of exporting to Northern Ireland/Great Britain (39%) and pricing (38%) are the three most negative impacts of Brexit on small firms.
A much smaller number of companies indicated that exchange rate movements and pricing issues arising from the Brexit vote would have positive impacts on their business (10% and 7% respectively).
Amongst small companies, only 8% had a contingency plan in place before the vote. A further 17% said that they were putting in place a contingency plan immediately. 17% also plan to work on a contingency plan in the coming months, while over half of the respondents (58%) said that they don’t have a plan or it is too early to tell.
Speaking today at the Oireachtas Symposium on 'The Economic Implications of UK Withdrawal from the European Union', SFA Director, Patricia Callan stated, "The UK is a key marketplace for our small exporting companies. It is a learning ground when they’re starting up, and it is not easy to diversify into other markets farther afield without significant resources."
She added, "Equally, the UK is our biggest market for tourism visitors, which has an impact on local economies right around the country. The threat of recession in the UK is very real and we would be very concerned about the knock-on implications of that for our entire domestic economy."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
