Are you in or are you out? "Europe has been in a state of flux for centuries," says manufacturing MD

Richard Shaw is the managing director of Ellis, a North Yorkshire-based designer and manufacturer of cable cleats. The company employs 60-people, has annual sales of around £7m – 50% of which are export sales. Of this 50%, 30% is accounted for by the EU.

Are you in or are you out? In

Why?

It was recently reported that large companies were typically in favour of remaining in the EU, whereas smaller companies were keen to leave.

As the MD of one of these exit-fancying smaller businesses, I’m keen to put on record how strongly I disagree with this supposed fact.

Those, like me, who remember life before the EU will recall the customs challenges of exporting and importing goods to and from individual European countries.

The UK is a trading nation and the EU represents a huge export territory in which it is easy to do business.

Having a single market across so many countries does, of course, require a great deal of regulation, one aspect of which is the need for some degree of standardisation. For the public at large this often brings cries of interference from Brussels about the size of sausages and the curvature of bananas, but for industry it’s an absolute necessity.

The emergence of European Standards has done far more than simply simplifying trade in the EU.

The idea that should we leave the EU we will no longer suffer the interference of Brussels in this particular arena is nonsense. European Standards will still exist and we will have to comply if we wish to sell into Europe and potentially elsewhere.

Migration is another of the exit supporters’ bugbears – but you need to bear in mind that as the UK economy grows, the more people it needs.

The UK has a significant advantage when it comes to the competition to attract the cream of European migrants. The reason? Almost half of the 500 million people in the EU speak English as either a first or second language.

A final point, which is probably more important than all the rest, relates to the continued existence of the EU. Europe has been in a state of flux for centuries and the EU is its most recent (and most peaceful) significant iteration. Neither the ‘ins’ nor the ‘outs’ think the EU is perfect (even after David Cameron’s renegotiation), but no mainstream politician seems to be saying we would be better off if it didn’t exist.

What would a Brexit mean for your business?

A Brexit means uncertainty and in a business with a 3 to 5 week lead time we have uncertainty enough.

At the moment we quote with 90-day validity. Post Brexit, if we have to quote in euros, we won’t be able to do that.

People will say that Brexit will be good for business because companies like JCB say so. However, their brands are massively strong on an international basis.

95% of businesses in the UK employ 50 people or less, JCB are in no position to speak for them. And what about the thousands of UK employees that work for foreign entities (Nissan for example)?

The only certainty is that uncertainty will increase.

I worry that Brexit will be a slow motion road crash that will evolve over a period of years and the politicians that orchestrate it will be so far removed by that time, they will never be able to be held to account.