Business owners urged to make sure they are ready for no deal Brexit

Businesses should consider three steps to ensure they can continue to trade with the EU if the UK leaves the bloc without a deal.

The first is to register for an economic operator and registration identification (EORI) number. UK businesses that have only traded inside the EU will not already have one. In the event of a no deal exit businesses will be unable to continue trading with the EU without this number but HMRC figures show that so far only 17% of these businesses have registered.

The second step is to consider how they want to make customs declarations. Many businesses appoint a customs agent to do this. 

Businesses that import goods into the UK from the EU using roll on roll off locations can take a third step and register for new transitional simplified procedures (TSP). This will allow them to import without having to make a full customs...