A new report shows that 1 in 5 UK exporting manufacturers have struggled with trading with the EU since 2020.

Analysis by Make UK and DHL reports that 19% of companies surveyed said that their trade with EU markets had reduced and remained lower since 2020.

Among businesses with between 10 to 249 employees, that figure jumped to a massive 54%, showing that smaller firms have suffered more in the post-Brexit trading relationship, citing higher costs, increased red-tape and business uncertainty.

The report is available to download here. The survey sampled 119 UK exporting manufacturers.

It comes on the day that the Business and Trade Committee said that small firms in the UK were operating under ‘pandemic-style pressures’, calling for urgent reforms.

Dr Mike Galsworthy, Chair of European Movement UK, said:

"How many more manufacturers have to lose business before Westminster stops treating EU trade as a culture war footnote? Every month we delay dynamic alignment or a proper sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement, more contracts move to Rotterdam or Düsseldorf and never come back. The UK-EU reset cannot just be a summit photo, it must mean market access.

"We are voluntarily stepping away from the team we should be captaining. That is not sovereignty, it is self-sabotage. This research shows the true cost of a bad deal. It is time to stop managing decline and start rebuilding a trading relationship that actually works for British industry."