Sir Keir Starmer, Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, visited Brandon Medical in Morley, West Yorkshire on 28 April, where he discussed with joint MD, Graeme Hall, Labour’s programme for Britain’s exit from the EU and Brexit’s impact on businesses.
They were joined by Neil Dawson, Labour candidate for Morley and Outwood, the BBC, and the Yorkshire Post, with footage featuring on the BBC’s Look North. Sir Kier said most of the companies he had spoken to were mainly concerned about tariffs between EU countries.
Graeme Hall told his guest, who also toured Brandon’s 50,000 ft2 manufacturing facility, that, like many of its competitors, Brandon successfully exported to many countries with no formal UK trade-deal. He added: “A hard Brexit would probably increase documentation requirements, but this isn’t a big problem in the digital age. New trade tariffs between Britain and the EU would in fact help us, as we manufacture here in the UK, and our competitors import products from the EU, so they would be disadvantaged more.”
Brandon Medical’s major markets include the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Africa, where the company sees ‘huge growth, in stark contrast to mature European markets’. The biggest ‘Brexit problem’ it foresees is ‘a shortage of skilled people as we lose access to European migrant workers’
Brandon Medical designs and manufactures ‘world-leading technology’ for operating theatres, critical care areas, and primary care institutions.
