I work for a a UK food manufacturer which did export 40% to the EU. The added costs of getting food over to EU resulted in the sales teams having to renegotiate the selling prices to EU customers. Most basically said no. Why should they pay a higher price when they can source the same type of product within the EU at a lower price. The big EU buyers stopped trading with us.
When politicians say businesses need to adapt I really have no idea what they have in mind when they say that. We are not in a position to demand customers pay more. And most businesses aren’t in a position to swallow additional costs. The only reason our business didn’t sink is because it’s part of a much larger group so was able to flatten out the financial impact by borrowing internally.