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Use Budget to give small exporters Brexit grants, IoD says

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond is facing calls to include some Brexit-focused support for small firms in his October 29 Budget - AP
Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond is facing calls to include some Brexit-focused support for small firms in his October 29 Budget - AP

The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, must use his budget to help small firms afford specialist Brexit advice as chances of no deal rise, business groups have said.

The Institute of Directors (IoD) has renewed its call, first made over a year ago, for the Government to follow the lead of Irish and Dutch Governments by offering advice vouchers to small exporters.

“Ireland is way out in front [of the UK] when it comes to supporting small firms,” Allie Renison of the IoD told The Daily Telegraph.

“Questions from firms looking to up their no deal planning are very specific, and need specialist help,” Ms Renison added.

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The IoD’s proposal of a Brexit voucher system would cost the Chancellor £700m, according to its own analysis.

This would consist of a grant of between £2-3000 per small company to be sued for legal and professional advice on Brexit readiness. The figures are comparable with the financial support offered by InterTrade Ireland and Enterprise Ireland in their Brexit programmes.

Very few firms had made detailed preparations for a no-deal scenario, Ms Rension said. This made the increasing possibility of a hard Brexit deeply concerning and meant that it was time for Government to emulate Dutch and Irish efforts to mitigate economic damage should it occur she added.

One of the most common issues faced by small companies was in trying to map out the various stages of their supply chains in order to determine how increased import or export friction with the EU could impact on operations, Ms Renison said.

Addressing such concerns often demanded highly detailed sector-specific knowledge, which companies struggle to source and fund independently.

A level of Government guidance and some financial support to was therefore now essential, the IoD said.

Gareth Hagan of OCO Global, a company which has advised the Department for International Trade, also said that some kind of financial support for small exporters was long overdue.

“Bodies such as Enterprise Ireland have been streets ahead [of the UK] on helping small and medium sized companies,” Mr Hagan said.