While Brexit came as a huge change to all companies up to and including the giant multinationals, it had an even larger effect on the thousands of small businesses who had to rearrange for the new reality.
In 2021, CGTN Europe interviewed the bosses of several small UK businesses to ask them how they had adapted – or otherwise – to a post-EU paradigm shift. Exporters had to deal with a raft of new administration, to such an extent that some considered moving parts of their operations back into the bloc.
One such mover was Hampstead Tea. In that 2021 interview, director Kiran Tawadey explained that "From this year onwards we've not been able to ship a single order to the EU because of the tariffs and because of the problems on shipment, even with small parcels."
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At the time, Tawadey was regarding her glass – or perhaps teacup – as half-full rather than half-empty: "Moving to the EU now gives us that great opportunity to build that direct-to-consumer business and mirror that success we've had in the UK, which is really exciting. With every dark cloud, I guess there's a silver lining somewhere."
Two years on, did the move work out – and does she still see Brexit as more of an opportunity than a threat?
"We took a leap of faith, partnered with a Dutch importer and decided to get going," she tells CGTN now. "It was the best decision we made. We would have been out of business in the EU by now if we hadn't done that – it wasn't sustainable to continue working the way we had to."
Perhaps nothing is as British as a cup of tea – but one tea company is among those who have moved operations to the EU since Brexit. /VCG
That's not to say partnering was a panacea of the problems of Brexit. Indeed, it brought its own associated costs, but Tawadey is determined to continue the process.
"We've taken on these costs, we're going to have to make it work somehow financially – we're going to have to build our business back up to where it was," she says. "Last year was one step towards that, and currently 2023 is looking good.
"We've just received a very big listing from a very big customer in Germany, so we're very excited about that and I don't think we would have had that if we were still in the UK because they wouldn't have wanted to take on that complexity."
Kiran Tawadey is one of many small business owners adapting to a new paradigm. /CGTN
If Tawadey could send a message to the UK government, it would be double-edged: to talk to business – and to listen, for the country's sake.
"I don't think they still know what the repercussions have been for small and medium-sized businesses," she says. "Lots of my peer group have quit the EU altogether – they just couldn't be bothered with it.
"I think that's really traumatic and damaging for the UK economy, not least for the individuals concerned. I think the next time they make a decision like this that's going to impact generations, they need to have a deeper consultation with business. I don't think that was done."
What was 'done' was Brexit, with the Conservatives winning the 2019 election by a landslide on the back of Boris Johnson's simple pledge to 'Get Brexit Done.' However, Tawadey insists the task could have been completed by Johnson's predecessor.
Boris Johnson drove a bulldozer through a polystyrene wall as an election gimmick, but the real Brexit has proven as tougher obstacle. /Reuters
Theresa May's own Brexit deal was voted down by Parliament – including by some of her own party, leading to her resignation. To Tawadey, May's deal – derided by some Conservative hardliners as a 'soft Brexit' – would have been much less disruptive… and arguably more democratic.
"Theresa May's deal was a great deal for business," she insists. "Unfortunately, it didn't satisfy the hard Brexiteers, so we went for a hard Brexit. In every way you look at it or cut it, it was the hardest Brexit we could have had. It hasn't been sold to the UK man in the street like that, but that's what we all appreciate it is.
"If people were to know that that's what it is, there would definitely be a call for another referendum. I think people are being kept in the dark – and I think we're very conveniently blaming all of the issues that we've had in the last couple of years onto COVID-19. But actually, a lot of the underlying problems aren't COVID-related at all. They are Brexit-related."
Interview by Elizabeth Mearns