The current COVID-19 scenario has made things difficult for businesses in almost all domains. There’s also uncertainty around Brexit in the UK, which seems to have added to the surmounting difficulties. A new research by the British fintech firm Currensea reaffirms the same as it finds that around 80% or 4.72 million businesses trade internationally in any given year. Out of them, 1.18 million Small and Medium Businesses (SMEs) halted trade because of the pandemic and an additional 283,000 stopped trading due to Brexit.
Currensea is a British fintech that was founded by Barclays and JPMorgan alumni in 2018. The company has secured over £5 million in overall funding and in September 2020, it bagged 3rd place on a list of the Top 100 FinTech Disruptors. In an exclusive interview with UKTN, the company’s co-founder and co-CEO, James Lynn reveals how SMEs are being impacted by the current scenario and what can be done to lower the blow.
COVID and Brexit impact on SMEs
Both Brexit and COVID-19 had a notable impact on international trading for SMEs. Currensea’s research unearthed that about 25% of SMEs that used to trade internationally have stopped doing so because of COVID-19. In real world terms, that is about 1.18 million businesses halting international trade. And around 283,000 businesses have halted trading because of Brexit. SME exporting has also decreased by around 10% which is slated to cost the UK about £20 billion this year....