The Secretary of State for Wales, Simon Hart, has once again encouraged businesses to prepare themselves for the EU Transition at the end of December.
Mr Hart spoke about the necessity for businesses to ready themselves for the transition in a discussion and Q&A sessions for businesses, hosted by Heather Anstey-Myers, CEO of Chambers Wales.
Produced by Business News Wales, over 100 people joined the call to discuss how businesses would be affected by the EU Transition.
EU Transition Business Readiness Series from Business News Wales on Vimeo.
Ms Anstey-Myers was joined by the Secretary of State for Wales, Lindsey Neil from HMRC, and Jo Price, the Director of International for Chambers Wales to discuss what businesses need to do to be ready for the transition at the end of December.
The Secretary of State said that, in terms of negotiating a deal, “both sides are still locked in negotiation.”
“It doesn’t look like anything much will happen before the early to middle part of next week,” he continued.
“The good news is there is still a deal to be done.” but still some sticking points, as has been mentioned in the press.
Mr Hart stressed that businesses in Wales who have any transaction with the EU must make preparations for the transition.
“A significant amount of preparation needs to be done irrespective of what the outcome is,” he said.
Mr Hart said that businesses in Wales generally split into three categories of preparedness: Those who haven’t been able to prepare because of the effects of the pandemic or other reasons; those who have done a certain amount but not quite enough; those who have made all the preparations and are ready to go.
He added that businesses are moving towards a state of greater readiness partly due to assistance from UK and Welsh governments.
Mr Hart said there is a strong degree of cooperation between UK and Welsh governments and praised companies who have offered assistance to other companies to ready them for the transition.
“This is hugely helpful as part of the national effort,” he said.
Businesses looking for further information can visit https://www.gov.uk/transition
