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‘Small businesses across the North East are better off in Europe’, Sajid Javid

Business Secretary Sajid Javid has today revealed new figures showing that 1.2 million small and medium-sized businesses across the country rely on trade with the EU, including over 31,000 in the North East of England.

The analysis shows 23% of UK SMEs either export to Europe or supply firms that export to Europe. 23% of SMEs in the North East represents 31,126 businesses.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid said: “This shows yet again that small businesses across the North East are stronger, safer and better off in Europe.

“If we leave the EU, small firms are on the front line and that’s a gamble with people’s livelihoods I’m not willing to take. “Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. Let’s not break that backbone with a leap into the dark.”

The data was taken from the government’s ‘BIS estimate of the proportion of UK SMEs in the supply chain of exporters’ paper, which can be viewed here.

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