North East and Teesside prepare for Brexit

Brexit negotiations are beginning as Theresa May prepares to trigger Article 50 this morning.

The process will take around 2 years to complete, as the Government work to get trade deals with other countries inside and outside the EU.

We’ve been speaking to businesses across the North East and Teesside, about how they feel ahead of our plans to leave the European Union.

Middlesbrough restaurant owner Andy Preston voted to Remain, but tells us now we’ve made the choice we need to make the best of it;

“Britain can prosper and do really well outside of the EU,

“I voted to remain because I think we would have prospered more easily and been a bit more safe if we’d stayed in, but that’s not the point.

“The point is we’re leaving, so we get on with it, we can prosper, we can do well.”

John Elliott is the CEO of EBAC in Newton Aycliffe, he was on board with the Leave Campaign from the start, he thinks we’re on the right track;

“The United Kingdom underperforms dramatically because of poor management by successive governments in Westminster.

“That’s got to change, it would never change if we remain in the European Union.”

The North East and Teesside voted overwhelmingly to Leave the EU in the referendum last June, but leader of campaign group North East For EU, Jon Athon thinks people might change their minds once effects of the trade deals start affecting us;

“We’re going to be a lot worse off outside the EU, we’ll see a lot of bills start to go up, we’re already seeing supermarkets start to put their prices up in the wake of Brexit.”

What do you think? Let us know on Twitter