THE leader of a group that has helped businesses all over the county welcomed the agreement of a post-Brexit trade deal.

Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership chief executive Paddy Bradley said it will bring much-needed stability and reassurance for businesses who now have a better idea of what the future holds.

He said: "The key thing is that, although we don’t yet know the detail of the trade deal, having one is better than not having one and leaving on other terms.

“That does give us some understanding and businesses can now start to plan as the soon as the details are known – especially once they are ratified by the British and EU Parliaments, though that might not happen until next month, so there will need to be some temporary arrangements in place.

"With or without a deal, there will still be changes in procedures and requirements for companies to provide extra documentation – that must not be forgotten and businesses have to be aware of that.

“The SWLEP has had some funding to implement transition support, signpost businesses to other areas of support and get people with specialist knowledge to help with this.

“People are preparing in different ways. The businesses with more resources are better prepared than others. Some will be saying they can’t afford to take a risk and will only start preparing and responding when the full guidance is out."

There is still some confusion over the immediate future of our trading relationship with the EU and there had been hopes the deal would have been negotiated earlier than the week before the transition period ends. 

Mr Bradley added: “Everyone is looking for absolute certainty about the full guidance. It’s a confusing situation but these things will be worked through, though we don’t know how long it will take.

“I’m sure we will see some disruption from January 1 as people get used to the new ways of trading. Europe takes half of our overall trade.

“There have been four-and-a-half years since the referendum but the new way we will trade in the EU has not emerged until very recently.

“Everybody would have wanted the decision to be made and the conclusion of negotiations to happen ASAP. It’s a trade deal of significant size achieved in record time, though it would have been nicer to have that record time happen much earlier in 2020.

“The deadline of December 31 meant that people keep going with these negotiations until the last possible minute, as such talks tend to do.

“Overall, a deal brings the prospect of stability and a firm framework businesses can use to plan. No matter what anyone thinks, this is what we have and what we must plan with."

The managing director of Joint Operations and Regen Medical in Royal Wootton Bassett, which supplies medical equipment and muscle tissue for operations in hospitals around the UK, also welcome the news of a deal being agreed.

Richard Forster said: "It was difficult because we didn’t know what was going to happen. We were hoping to get a deal and it would have been disappointing not to.

“Earlier this month, we did stock up on dry ice, six months’ supply of cool boxes and other supplies we rely on to see ourselves through the first few months of the year just in case.

“The change in tariffs won’t affect us but the exchange rate does as most of our products come from Europe and the US, it’s a 60/40 split.

“A deal will bring a lot more stability to business, which is what business need. I think in the long-term we will be OK but it will be a bit sticky for a few years.

“The impact on the local area is worth considering. I think Swindon is quite a vulnerable region, so a deal is much more preferable than a no deal, in every respect.”

Business West managing director Phil Smith added: “Businesses across the region will breathe a sigh of relief at the news that a UK-EU trade deal has been announced. 

“After more than four years of uncertainty, and then a very difficult nine months of Covid disruption, it is good to have a concrete deal that companies can start to work with.

"A No Deal would have been highly damaging, both in economic terms, but also in souring relationships between the UK and the EU and making it harder to come to common agreements that would help keep day to day trade flowing. 

“The deal announced will still create new paperwork and barriers to trade with Europe. It is by no means perfect, but it does give an economic and political framework for future trade and a basis for economic co-operation. 

“Despite this good news, business still have an urgent need to prepare for the new requirements that will be needed to trade with the EU from January 1 2021.

"This includes a need for customs declarations, a different set of regulatory requirements and new ways of dealing with VAT, logistics, services and a whole host of other nuts and bolts issues. Business West has been giving guidance to companies on how to prepare through our web advice platform: www.tradingthroughbrexit.com 

“Given the lack of time to prepare fully, many businesses will be hoping that there can be an implementation period, to stop a potential big adjustment shock at the turn of the year.

"Although the UK government has previously ruled it out, we hope both parties can come to a pragmatic arrangement that firms on both sides will need a period to get used to new rules and prevent serious economic disruption. 

“This is the start of a new era. We hope that a period of difficult and painful political disagreement can now be drawn to a close.

"Given the pressing need for economic growth and recovery that we currently face, we hope we can now move away from posturing towards pragmatism and create a new and constructive relationship with our closest trading partner.”