eu-63985_1920Brexit: In or out, we do both!

As a long standing member of the European Union there are many arguments for and against the future of Britain’s membership. Regardless of which side of the fence you sit on, we can all agree that the steps we take need to be well informed and seriously well thought about before being acted upon. The “Brexit” issue effects all of us differently but as freight forwarding companies we really need to be on the ball, as the changes to international trade carry the risk of engulfing ill-informed third party logistics providers. One of the initial responsibilities of the E.U. was to create more trade between E.U. countries and to better the inequality between the member countries. As an Island nation we are always going to be involved with importing and exporting goods, this is simple geography. Were we better geographically located within the centre of the E.U. then perhaps this would be different but as it currently stands we aren’t and that shows no sign of changing anytime soon.  Acting as a freight forwarding company we are heavily impacted by trade agreements both inside and outside of E.U. jurisdiction, we have no choice but to debate whether or not these responsibilities are a benefit or hindrance to the country’s importing and exporting industry. In order to really grasp the current situation, we need to start by looking at the rate of growth of Britain’s trading industry before we joined the E.U.

Prior to joining the European Union, the growth in export Britain had been producing was falling behind various other countries around the world. These countries included; Australia, Japan, U.S.A. and four others. During the ten years before Britain joined the E.U., we may not have had the highest growth rate but we were not far behind these competing countries.

In 1973, Britain joined the E.U. hoping to help build a stronger, more united Europe. After trying previously and failing Britain was finally allowed to join. Hoping to give as good as we got, the next twenty years were relatively good for export growth within Britain, with the E.U. helping Britain to achieve a much higher rate of growth than the previously mentioned non E.U. countries.

The issues for Britain surfaced after these twenty years in which recent world events or decisions have caused the growth rate to stutter and digress lower than previous years. With this information in mind we have to consider the next step taking into account both the positives and negatives of a possible exit from the European Union.

Regardless of which side of the fence you find yourself on it is evident that the effects of Britain leaving the EU will be more damaging to some industries than others. Throughout the rest of this series, various industries will be discussed with the hope of pinpointing some of the effects either outcome may cause. Once this has been investigated it is then possible to form an industry specific opinion based on real facts that we are then able to contrast with media views and political input.

We LOVE to hear your opinions and we would LOVE it if you let us know them in order to create a more varied spectrum of ideas.

Tony & The Espace Team

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