Barry Smith – MD at Abcon Ireland.
Our MD Barry Smith contributed to this month’s Business Plus Magazine Brexit Update, which is currently the hottest topic in business. The impact of Brexit will be substantial on several fronts for companies like ourselves in service based manufacturing. Barry commented that “There are a whole range of factors constraining general competitiveness in this country, which can only be tackled at the macro level. There is a lack of joined up thinking when it comes to tackling the things that limit our general competitiveness”.
Insurance costs, currency movements and commercial credit insurance are covered in the article. He also says that “bypassing the UK is simply not an option” for Irish Exporters as it is a natural market for us and also a substantially large one. The article also quoted neighbouring businessmen in Cootehill, John Foy, Supervalu and Paul Quinn, Mastek along with Mary Harty from Sligo Chamber and Michael Tunney from Donegal LEO. It is definitely worth reading as it covers all of the real issues at stake for SMEs.
Business Plus is a great resource to keep up-to-date with business in Ireland. We are grateful for the opportunity to voice our opinions and we look forward to the online version in at the end of this month. While the outcome of Brexit negotiations may not be within our control, we encourage all stakeholders to ensure that they contribute to the Brexit conversation to inform the Government about issues that we can influence domestically in the hope that they will take relevant action to ensure that Irish businesses survive this latest threat.
(A version of this article appeared originally on Abcon‘s website)
