Brexit: ‘We hope that at five minutes to midnight the politicians will cut a deal’

Cavan-based businessman Barry Smith is trying to get a handle on what Brexit means for his company.

Abcon Industrial Products, which is based in Cootehill, has grown from just nine staff to 130 in 13 years and makes industrial abrasive products and rubber hoses. The businessman is heavily exposed to the UK leaving the EU. The company exports 35 per cent of its products into Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, and imports 25 per cent of raw materials from there.

“It is very difficult still to know what exactly is going to be the outcome because as the negotiations go on it is still very unclear whether we are going to end up with a hard or a soft border. We are all starting to lean towards the opinion that there will be some sort of hard border,” he said.

One of the company’s main customers is in Cookstown, Co Tyrone, a 90-minute drive away. Every morning a truck leaves to bring products to the customer and travels freely across the Border.

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Delays

Logistics companies have suggested that with a hard border Smith’s delivery lorry could face delays ranging from 15 minutes to three hours for rush-hour times. The majority of Abcon’s products go through the UK “landbridge” for sale in the EU, which could mean further delays. Those mean more costs for his business.

As a manufacturing business, Abcon cannot easily relocate across the Border and so it has to look at reducing costs, for example trying to find raw materials from somewhere other than the UK, or trying to find new markets and new opportunities outside of its existing business hinterland.

“If we can’t be competitive in what is essentially our home market in the UK, we are not going to be competitive anywhere else. It is not just as simple as let’s look at the French or German markets,” he said.

Given the pace of Brexit negotiations and lack of any tangible solution to the border issue so far, Smith is not hopeful of an agreement.

“We all hope that at five minutes to midnight the politicians will cut a deal that will limit the damage,” he said. “You can put that under the wishful thinking column.”