Brexit Opportunities

For the past number of weeks, headlines have highlighted the negative impact of the new Trade and Co-Operation Agreement (TCA) that has come from Brexit. However, in the words of Albert Einstein “In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity”. Read on to discover five such opportunities that you could capitalise on.

1. SUPPLY CHAIN CHANGES
   
2. CUSTOMS OPPORTUNITIES
   
3. EU/UK REPRESENTATION
   
4. LEGAL EXPERTISE
   
5. TECHNOLOGY

1.SUPPLY CHAIN CHANGES
Early indicators are that there will be some UK suppliers unable or unwilling to supply goods to the island of Ireland in the short-term, which presents opportunities for local competitors.

For the last number of years, UK companies have been preparing for Brexit by setting up offices in EU jurisdictions. There may now be opportunities for European companies to have a local trading presence within the UK in order to avoid import taxes and high delivery costs.

In particular for Ireland, visa-free travel and the mutual recognition of qualifications with the UK, creates an opportunity for Irish service providers to the UK to steal a march on their mainland EU competitors.

2.CUSTOMS OPPORTUNITIES
There is a severe shortage of knowledgeable Customs Clearance Agents who can deal with the mountain of complexities and paperwork emerging as a result of the recent Trade Co-Operation Agreement. Coupling this administration with the new customs systems introduced by Revenue and HMRC in recent months, has led to a steep learning curve for all actors in the supply chain. This alone will present may opportunities for those willing to upskill. From a practical perspective, one would expect many Bonded Warehouses to sprout up in the UK in the next 12 months also, presenting glorious opportunities for those with the capacity and capability to deliver.

3.EU/UK REPRESENTATION
Cross-border traders will now have to comply with both UK and EU legislation or face the penalties of this invisible trade barrier. Like all crises, this will present opportunities for agents to emerge who are willing to track the regulations that are required under each jurisdiction and relay the information to suppliers.

Further opportunities will exist within the EU and UK, where local representatives may be required in some supply-chains to continue serving either market.

4.LEGAL EXPERTISE
The Trade Co-Operation Agreement that now rules the $1 trillion annual trading between the UK and the EU, was only published a number of weeks ago. It details the regulations and red tape that now surround trading operations between both jurisdictions. The legal interpretation of this long winded report will present an opportunity for legal trade experts to identify these challenges and relay the information to suppliers.

5.TECHNOLOGY
Considering the plethora of trade challenges alluded to above and the future pitfalls to emerge with the full implementation of the TCA, many innovations and disruptive technologies will emerge to ease the pain of EU-UK trade. Think of areas such as:

• Customs Administration Bots in the form of instant customer support chat on Customs websites
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) Sourcing
• Digital supply chain audits
• Websites such as Kwayga.com

This is a brief overview of the early opportunities to emerge from the Brexit crisis, with many more to follow. Feel free to join the discussion below or contact [email protected] to discuss these items further.