Agile businesses like Radical Sportscars could benefit from post-Brexit trade freedoms

The United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union on 31st January. The country will then be free to conduct trade deals and negotiations with non-EU countries. Some businesses are scared of the uncertainty that brings and of tariffs being placed on their shoulders. Others are looking forward the prospect of doors being opened which had previously been closed to them.

One of the companies which could benefit from this kind of freedom is Radical Sportscars, a Peterborough-based track and sports car manufacturer who are market leaders with a presence on five continents; exporting to Europe, China, Australia, Korea, the UAE, Kuwait, the USA, Chile, Argentina, Sweden and Switzerland.

The Parliamentary Review spoke with CEO Joe Anwyll, who turned the business round from a loss-making £150,000 a year to a turnover of over £20 million, about how they managed to do this. Anwyll said,

“All businesses require key manufacturing, sales and marketing indicators built into their operational structure to allow management at all levels to set and manage the key target areas that drive the business to profitability and success. These did not exist at Radical… Performance is now measured using a range of highly visual and easily interpreted key performance indicators that contain the vital management information needed to facilitate decisions and take early corrective actions to keep operational performance on track.

“Employee involvement is vital. This key information is shared with the workforce to ensure they remain fully engaged in managing the process. The turnaround consisted of a series of small improvements that each addressed and ultimately remedied a form of waste, while gradually producing a measurable improvement in business operational performance that employees could see, be involved in, and understand.”

Anwyll also understood the importance of identifying what drives customers to buy in to their product. He went on to say, “Radical Sportscars… is essentially a marketing-led company, selling a dream to people who have the money to undertake what some Formula One drivers have called 'a unique motor-racing experience.'"

Outside of the EU, some of the countries like China, certain Middle Eastern states and Korea have supremely wealthy individuals who can afford the luxury of Radical’s services. If the UK is able to negotiate lower tariffs or even free trade deals with those respective nations, companies like Radical Sportscars should be able to utilise the lessons they’ve learned operating in a more restrictive trading environment and take their global market share to the next level.