Commercial Risk Europe: UK SMEs prioritise GDPR and cyber over Brexit: Zurich

21 September 2018

Smaller UK businesses have pushed Brexit planning to the backburner as they struggle to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and cyber threats, according to a Zurich survey.

The poll of brokers’ dealings with small and medium-sized (SME) clients, revealed that 24% regularly ask them about GDPR compliance and 43% said they have recorded an increase in enquiries about GDPR since the rules came into force in May.

Cybersecurity was the top concern for SMEs, with 37% of firms regularly asking brokers about the cyber threat.

By comparison, just 10% of brokers said they were regularly asked about Brexit, while 35% said their SME clients never ask about the impact of the UK’s exit from the European Union on their business.

“A lack of resources to address both immediate and long-term planning could be a problem,” Zurich said.

The survey found that other issues, including financial risk from late payments and legal claims, are more of a priority for SMEs than Brexit. Some 80% of brokers said clients had sought advice on financial risk.

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