Brexit guide for business

Updated 24 December 2020

Update: 24th December 2020

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has announced that the UK has reached a Trade and Co-Operation Agreement with the EU.

You can find links to the Prime Minister’s statement here and further detail on the agreement is here.

The Government has stated that it is important that all organisations continue to prepare for the changes at the end of this year. Guidance on advice can be found at www.gov.uk/transition, including a tool that provides a personalised list of actions to get ready. HMG has also published a bespoke collection of guidance relevant to the digital and tech sector which is available here.

This includes details on:

You may also find these resources helpful:

If you need any other support, please contact press@technation.io and we will do our best to help.

Update: 1 December 2020

December is the last month of the transition period agreed as part of the UK–EU Withdrawal Agreement. This means that after 31 December 2020, the temporary extension of EU rules on trade and security will end either with or without a deal on future arrangements (as explained here by the BBC). 
With that in mind, please find below a selection of EU exit resources from HM Government to help you and your company prepare:

EU Exit resources 

  • A transition focussed page on gov.uk outlining changes for businesses and citizens. This includes a tool which generates a personalised list of actions.
  • BEIS are hosting sector-specific transition webinars available on demand.
  • HMRC are providing practical transition related guidance to businesses in a series of live webinars and have also created online customer forums on customs, excise, VAT and other tax related issues.
  • The Home Office has launched a podcast for businesses which explains the new immigration system. 
  • You can also sign up for Home Office updates on the status of EU citizens in the UK and next steps for them to take after the end of the transition period. 
  • The ICO has rolled out an interactive tool for small and medium-sized businesses and organisations based in the UK who need to maintain the free flow of personal data into the UK from Europe, if the transition period ends without adequacy. The tool will help you decide whether standard contractual clauses (SCCs) can help maintain the flow of data, as well as guidance on how to select the right SCC and how to complete them. ICO will also be hosting webinars in December.
  • DIT are hosting a series of webinars throughout December primarily aimed at businesses which are UK based who importing and exporting goods. Joining details here
  • Tech Nation have teamed up with the Coalition for a Digital Economy (Coadec) and the UK Tech Cluster Group to produce a guide for tech startups and scaleups, aiming to disseminate what they need to do to get ready for a potential “no-deal” Brexit.
  • DCMS have created a toolkit of digital content with key messages on data transfers and personal data.
  • Tech UK has put together a guide for how the tech sector can prepare for the end of the transition period
  • The CBI also has a ‘UK transition hub‘ of resources to help you prepare, with guidance on specific issues such as importing/exporting goods and data flows

We hope you will find the above useful as you prepare for 31 December 2020. Please do continue to feed into us if you need any help or direction in this area. Our Head of Government Relations (Interim), Alex Pleasants, can be contacted at: alexpleasants@technation.io.