British children’s bike manufacturer Frog Bikes has said mounting Brexit costs drove it into the red last year.
The company’s annual accounts (opens in new tab), released on Wednesday, detailed pre-tax losses of £530,476 for the financial year to the end of February 2022.
In the report, Frog Bikes co-founders and directors Jerry and Shelley Lawson wrote that the company had struggled with the “continuing friction” caused by the UK’s departure from the EU, which took effect in January 2020.
“The day to day issues in fulfilling orders have dominated most of our trade relationships with the EU,” the Lawsons wrote. “The business was hit by an unexpected import duty of 47.5%, applied to most of our componentry, after the UK left the EU.
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“Prior to this, we had an EU manufacturer’s suspension. A full exemption was granted in November 2021, but not refunded, and the 10 months of additional duties (Anti-Dumping Duties) cost us £1.5m from Jan to November 21, and caused the business to make a loss.”
The EU is able to impose Anti-Dumping Duties (ADDs) on non-EU companies that export a product to the EU at a lower price than that charged on their home markets. This is considered "dumping" under EU trade law.The EU granted Frog Bikes a suspension from Anti-Dumping Duties in 2019, and was set to carry out an audit on the company in 2020, which was then delayed due to Covid. As a result, the suspension was not accounted for and Frog Bikes was […]
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