Award-winning British brewery battles post-Brexit trade costs

Three years after the UK officially left the European Union, three-quarters of UK businesses are complaining that extra costs and paperwork have crippled trade with continental neighbours.

One of those companies, the award winning Round corner brewery in Leicestershire, said post-Brexit price increases have dramatically increased transport and export costs.

Co-founder Combie Crayan said he saw things dry up with Europe after Brexit.

“In the old world, in a kind of common market, it was a case of beer costing £20, whether you sent it to Amsterdam or to Dublin. Great. Now that’s 200 pounds. And who wants to pay £200 on top of the price of a case of beer? Nobody,” said Crayan.

The UK economy, like others around the world, has been shaken by pandemic restrictions and the shock waves of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday that the UK would be the only G7 economy to fall into negative growth of 0.6% this year.

But the British Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, last Friday criticized reports of a declining British economy, arguing that the experts did not base their data on the real situation on the ground.

Just this month, columnists from both the left and the right have spoken of an existential crisis, Britain teetering on the brink and we can only hope things don’t get worse.

“I welcome the debate, but chancellors are also allowed to have their say, and I say simply this: declinism about Britain is simply wrong. It has always been wrong in the past and it is wrong today,” he added.

Hunt has argued that post-Brexit financial regulatory changes will ultimately help boost the UK’s low productivity rate.

Entrepreneurs like Cryan, however, argue otherwise.

“People there knew our beer [on mainland Europe] and would follow. And right away, one of the direct consequences of Brexit is that it disappeared overnight. So it definitely changed our plans,” he said.

“So our fans in Europe are probably not getting access to some of the best beers out there. And all of this leads to us really not being able to run the business the way we want with the same growth prospects that we want.”

According to the UK Office of National Statistics, inflation stood at 10.5% at the end of December, down 0.2% from November and 11.1% in October.

However, inflation in the UK is higher than in the US and the 20 countries that use the euro.