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International trade is one of the big leaps for any business. Whether it's exporting your goods, importing raw materials, or offering your services overseas; unlocking the power of global commerce can be a game-changing moment. But it's not always a smooth ride.

Whilst EU Exit will play a big role in future international trade, you could be facing barriers right now. Or the coming impact of EU Exit, once we leave the transition period, might be having preliminary effects on your business. If you're exporting goods, some examples of challenges you could be facing include:

• Lengthy or complex customs procedures
• Foreign regulations restricting trade
• Government procurement nuances
• Import quotas or price controls
• Copyright and intellectual property risks.

Whereas if you're exporting services, they might be:

• Accessing, storing or sending data
• Requirements to be physically present
• Qualification requirements
• Restrictions on business name or structure
• Limited access to local banks, web domain providers etc.

As well as creating a Growth Plan to solve these problems, you can also use the Government's Report a trade barrier tool. Your message will go directly to the Department for International Trade, and they may be able to use their overseas staff to smooth over your issues; or use them to inform negotiations with the EU.

We would also like to hear about your barriers, so that we can try to help directly, and build up a picture of what Gloucestershire's businesses are running into.

If you have any questions on how the EU Exit will affect your Gloucestershire business, or you’d like to speak to an advisor about building resilience for change, please email us: euexit@thegrowthhub.biz