Yorkshire can prosper under new trade deals post-Brexit, says Piece Hall leader

One of Yorkshire’s most senior business figures says the UK’s new freedoms after leaving the European Union could bring about a “renaissance of UK plc”, with the North playing a crucial part in its prosperity.
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Roger Marsh, who chairs Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and is chair of the Piece Hall Trust, said the region needed to seize the opportunity created by the UK’s new position outside the European Union’s trading structures which started on December 31 at 11pm.

There will be disruption as a result of the extra barriers between the UK and its largest trading partner, with one Yorkshire business saying the new arrangements will lead to “uncertainty, cost and bureaucracy” for firms that trade with Europe.

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But there was little sign of the chaos some had feared yesterday. Lower trade volumes on the New Year’s Day bank holiday could mean the full impact of the new regime has yet be felt, but freight appeared to be moving freely at the borders and things were running “smoothly” at Humber docks.

Roger Marsh, who chairs Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP)Roger Marsh, who chairs Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP)
Roger Marsh, who chairs Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP)

Mr Marsh, a former senior partner at PwC, said the “devil was in the detail” of the trade agreement agreed on Christmas Eve, which had only a few hours of scrutiny from Parliament before it was passed into law.

And because the deal does not include an EU-wide arrangement for services, the impact on West Yorkshire’s vital professional and financial services sectors was not yet known.

But he said the 60 trade deals already set up around the world, including with the fast-growing economy of Mexico, would aid investment in the North. The UK is also well placed to join a major trans-Pacific free trade zone.

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Mr Marsh said: “Whether you agree or don’t agree with the decision of the population some four years ago, we made that decision. We’ve now moved on from it, we’ve now set up arrangements with the EU that we believe are fair and balanced.

“We’ve actually got off our proverbials and got into a much better place with other parts of the world, that perhaps we’ve been a bit lackadaisical with in the past.

“I do think this is an opportunity for the renaissance of UK plc and the North being crucial to that and obviously our part of the world being an important driver in this.”

He added: “I genuinely believe that the already high attractiveness of UK plc and the North in particular is going to be greatly enhanced in the years ahead as a result of this and it’s for us to seize that opportunity.

“Let’s let’s not lose sight of the fact that the under-invested in North has still performed reasonably well. It’s about unleashing its massive potential and trade and investment is important.”