InterTradeIreland’s Margaret Hearty says firms need to avail of funded Brexit Solutions, now

“In the event of a deal being reached, the Northern Ireland protocol protects the cross-border trade of goods to a certain degree, in that it means goods in circulation on the island will continue to move freely across the border, as they do now. However, there are other inherent risks that companies need to be aware of,” says Margaret Hearty, director of business services at InterTradeIreland.

“This could be the sourcing of component parts off the island of Ireland for use in manufacturing. There are also many outstanding things that need to be agreed for services, which is a large and growing part of cross-border trade. In some cases businesses have been moving goods across the border, and there may be a service aspect to that such as maintenance or follow-up that they haven’t thought about.”

InterTradeIreland has a huge amount of experience supporting businesses to help navigate Brexit. Introduced in 2017, its Brexit Advisory service is a powerful resource for companies. Their dedicated team are able to offer information and support — including funding to help SMEs develop a bespoke Brexit plan.

To date, over 2,000 Brexit vouchers have been issued by InterTradeIreland. The voucher provides a funding amount of £2,000/€2,250 (including Vat) worth of professional advice, to help identify Brexit exposure and plan accordingly. There has also been 93,000 page views on www.brexit2020.intertradeireland.com, a website dedicated to specific advice on supply chain, customs and people.

“Yes, the negotiations are ongoing, but we will make all new information available over the coming months. The Brexit voucher allows a business to get a risk assessment done, find out exactly where the risks lie and know what action to take when this information becomes available,” Hearty explains.

The most practical thing any business can do now is to avail of InterTradeIreland’s 100% funded solution to bring a professional service provider in to help them understand its risks and options, according to Hearty. For example, this could mean the need to employ a customs agent or train up staff internally to look after additional customs paperwork.

‘Facilitating collaboration and relationships’

One of InterTradeIreland’s main objectives is to increase economic cooperation across the island of Ireland by facilitating and encouraging mutually beneficial cross-border relationships. It’s at the core of everything it does as an organisation, from its cross-border cluster initiative Synergy to its Fusion programme, which links companies in one jurisdiction with ideas for new product development with academic institutions in the other.

“Everything we do is about sharing knowledge, best practice and information across the island. Our Funding for Growth research which looked at business angel activity led to the establishment of the Halo Business Angel Network as an all-island umbrella group,” says Hearty. “We also assist with wider all-island or cross-border cooperation, for example by supporting academics and businesses to partner across the island to access Horizon 2020 funding.”

‘Rising demand in face of Covid-19’

Before the pandemic, cross-border trade was at an all-time high, reaching €7.3bn in 2018 — the latest figures available from InterTradeIreland. Early indications are that cross-border trade both ways has dropped by about 7.8% since Covid-19.

“If there is no free trade agreement between the UK and the EU, agrifood would be significantly impacted and no agreement on services would be another potential impact. Most other sectors supply into those large categories, so we would see an impact right across the board,” says Hearty.

Against this backdrop, InterTradeIreland has never been busier in terms of the pipeline of applications and the demand for information, advice and financial assistance to trade cross-border has never been higher.

“Cross-border trade continues to be a natural first step when starting to export, particularly for smaller businesses, and it is crucial to protect and encourage it. Research has shown that of those companies which have taken that first step, 40% naturally go on to export off the island.”

She adds: “2019 was our busiest year to date. We engaged with a wide range of businesses right across the island and had a record number of companies participating in our programmes. This trend has continued in 2020. We are very much open for business, with lots of supports to help companies navigate Brexit and Covid-19.”