Across Cheshire West & Chester, business are finding it harder to invest, recruit and cover costs because of continued uncertainty over Brexit. In a survey commissioned by CWAC, 30% of businesses expect things to get worse while only 15% expect better.

In Hoole, hard working independent traders feel let down by politicians who seem more interested in their own careers than anything else. Mark Williams and the Hoole & Newton Focus team spoke to Hoole business men and women and found unhappiness everywhere.

Because Brexit is so controversial local businesses wanted their names withheld. This is what they said:

"After the Brexit vote the pound dropped by 20% so everything we imported, like French cheese, cost 20% more overnight.”

This comment goes to reinforce estimates from the Bank of England saying that the Brexit vote has so far cost households £900.

“My costs have gone up by 15% to 20% since the vote. I can’t be sure if it’s because of Brexit but costs have gone up.”

When asked what they thought of the possibility of exiting with no deal business owners said:

“If there’s no deal, expect the pound to fall by at least another 20%. Our costs will go up more.”

“Rich people like Farage and Rees Mogg will all get richer from shorting stock."

Mark said: “So much has changed since the referendum. There’s no extra money for the NHS. There’s chaos in Westminster, with Tory infighting
and Labour indecision. If politicians can’t decide, people should be allowed to decide if Brexit is worth this much worry and chaos”.