Stone Federation Great Britain has produced a short guide to Brexit for its members with links to more information. Mostly it is dealing with what to do if there is a 'no deal' Brexit, which could impact businesses.

This is a members-only benefit, but if you want to become a member send Matt Robb an email. If you want to talk to the Federation about Brexit you can do so in the 'Stone Village' at the Natural Stone Show at ExCeL London, 30 April - 2 May. By then the UK might (or might not) have left the EU and we will know if there is a 'no deal' or not.

The Federation says: "We currently have two representatives sitting on the Department of Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) EU Exit on the Rules of Origin Thematic Panels. This cross-Whitehall exercise, led by BEIS, is part of a Government policy development process in framing our future economic partnership with the European Union.

"These panels have enabled us to engage with the Government and other business sector leaders around the issues of Rules of Origin for the natural stone industry.

"We will continue to promote both the use of natural stone and Stone Federation members in Great Britain and overseas through our strong working relationships with industry bodies in Europe and the rest of the world. We already have a number of Stone Federation representatives on Euroroc committees who will continue to work to ensure that the UK natural stone sector is represented."

The Federation advises that because of the uncertainty about Brexit and what it might mean in terms of exchange rates and taxes, the following wording is used in contracts: “Following the UK's withdrawal from the European Union there may be significant changes in the price of materials or new taxes which may affect the price of the work quoted. We will immediately inform you of any changes that are beyond our control which affect this project and ask you how you wish to proceed.”

With 'no deal', CE marking will change to a new UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) mark, which, subject to Parliamentary approval, will replace the CE mark. There's more about that on the government website here.

The government has put all the guidance it produced for businesses last summer in case of a 'no deal' online. You can find it at gov.uk/business-uk-leaving-eu and there is more at euexitbusiness.campaign.gov.uk