The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), which was agreed on December 24, 2020 and implemented 8 days later, has been met with criticism from all angles. “Brexit is costing the UK economy a lot of resources and money to cope and in adjusting supply chains to the EU,” says Alexander Altmann, partner at Blick Rothenberg. “I don’t think the UK will be able to recover what its currently losing with the EU with what it may gain from new trade deals with the US, China and Australia.” Uncertainty has grown among businesses and caution “is definitely the prevailing attitude at the moment”, according to Rob Hutchinson, senior VAT recovery and research associate at TMF Group. There’s no room for trial and error because it can “lead to quite a big cost in terms of financial penalties”.