Research carried out at the University of Kent found one in four companies in Kent have little understanding of the impact of Brexit.
Dr Fragkiskos Filippaios, Reader in International Business at Kent Business School, told a business network lecture that this is not unexpected, given the uncertainty of the post-Brexit trade relationship with the EU market.
Dr Filippaios carried out research to establish current levels of internationalisation among Kent businesses and compared them with a 2010 Kent International Business Study.
The 2017 study found that, while Kent businesses are looking increasingly to trade internationally, they still lack access to international partners, have low in-house expertise and limited knowledge of available government funds to support international trade.
With the vast majority of international trade taking place with EU members (84% of Kent businesses identified the EU as their key market), Kent businesses generally feared Brexit would lead to trade barriers and restricted access to the European market.
There was also a great deal of concern around filling staff positions due to stricter rules surrounding immigrant labour and a less competitive position within Europe because of the dependency on imported raw materials in combination with a weaker pound.
Sectors such as education, information and communications and manufacturing anticipate a negative impact from Brexit, either due to the loss of access to markets or uncertainty with regards to the regulatory environment, whereas liberalisation from EU regulations is expected to have positive effects on industries such as accommodation, construction and human health.
Whilst a wide range of business support is available in Kent, it is not always clear to firms what kind of expertise government organisations and business platforms offer. Smaller businesses in particular often lack the resources and time required to investigate.
Post-Brexit, specialised support mechanisms such as Export Britain, and introductions to European business partners, will be key to Kent’s internationalisation, the report concludes.