Fri, February 8th, 2019
Liverpool Chamber welcomed Paul Slevin from the British-Irish Chamber of...
Liverpool Chamber welcomed Paul Slevin from the British-Irish Chamber of Commerce as a key note speaker to its first international trade Club of 2019.
Significant opportunities for UK business were highlighted. The Chamber is committed to help businesses to understand the implications of trade decisions.
Ireland is the UK’s largest export market in food and drink, and second largest market in clothing, fashion and footwear. Trade in other sectors continues to grow. Two way trade stands over EUR 1 billion per week.
Benefits of trading with Ireland ;
- Growing local Irish market opportunity
- Simple and fast access to friendly markets which have traded openly for hundreds of years
- Potential access point for the EU via Ireland
- Significant investment in infrastructure and services
- Stable economy that is a net contributor to the EU
Ireland is extremely close to UK in mindset and culture, finance and education.
The Irish value of trade with the UK was of 52 billion euros last year, this has also implications for the volume of Irish freight coming through Ports and Air routes. It is worth mentioning that Dublin-London is the busiest air route in Europe.
Paul addressed challenges such as skills shortages and safeguarding the environment. As a common law jurisdiction and a European Union member, Irish law closely mirrors UK law. However you should still seek professional legal advice.
The general advise was on mitigating the impact of BREXIT and of a non deal scenario:
- Manage your currency fluctuation and speak to the right advisors
- Consider a branch in Ireland and a safety belt to facilitate access to other trade agreements
- Get the support of a qualified accountant that can help through the process.
After hearing from The British Irish Chamber and from the delegates there is every reason to be optimistic and to continue to strengthen the relation between these two countries so interlinked through history.