AP TELEVISION
Christchurch - 23 May 2016
1. Various of steel welding
2. Wide of worker prepping cutting of steel
3. Various of steel cutting process
4. Various of Managing Director of Reid Steel Simon Boyd looking at construction plan
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Simon Boyd, Managing Director, Reid Steel:
"I think we have to take this opportunity, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, to take back control of hour own destiny. From a business perspective the European Union has been very bad for us. We are over-regulated and held back as a result of that regulation."
6. Cutaway of Reid Steel sign on machinery
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Simon Boyd, Managing Director, Reid Steel:
"We're the fifth biggest economy, we're the biggest trading partner, and I think outside the European Union, where the growing market is, where we export a lot of our product, we will be freer, we won't have all these regulatory hoops to jump through that nobody else on the world market has to jump through."
Birmingham - 18 May 2016
8. Various of rice being sifted through machine at East End Foods factory
9. Spice product on conveyer belt
10. Pan of worker with spices putting them into boxes
11. Various of spices and package assembling
12. Tracking shot of East End Foods cash and carry store
13. Various set ups of Jason Wouhra, East End Foods Chairman
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Jason Wouhra, East End Foods Chairman:
"The ease of trade within Europe is one of the key points from a business perspective. You're able to ship product all over the European Union without any problem. In terms of intellectual property, our trademarks are registered all over the world and the registrations within Europe were the easiest to put through because it's one application for the brand and cost-wise and efficientcy-wise that's excellent. So there are a lot of advantages in terms of the European perspective that help us as a business. And I'm not comfortable with the uncertainty of moving out to be honest."
15. Cutaway of shelves being stacked
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Jason Wouhra, East End Foods Chairman:
"No one actually knows how it will all transpire, but as an example, we do, East End Foods has 1,300 products in the portfolio. The labelling regulations are such that if they change, we would be in a position that we would have to re-label all of those products potentially, each label costing us a couple of thousand pounds (about 2,800 US dollars) to originate and then the costs of plastics, the cost of materials that we have to reinvest in, it would be a huge expense, possibly going into millions of pounds."
London - 16 May 2016
17. Various set ups of Dr Angus Armstrong, Director of Macroeconomics at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Angus Armstrong, Director of Macroeconomics, National Institute of Economic and Social Research:
"No country the size of the United Kingdom has ever left such an integrated economic union as the United Kingdom. In other words, there is no precedent to look back on and draw lessons – so we're in uncharted territory here. Many people say they would like to have more facts. The difficulty is we haven't been here before, and so necessarily there is a lot of uncertainty."
19. Cutaway
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Angus Armstrong, Director of Macroeconomics, National Institute of Economic and Social Research:
"The single market involves a single set of rules. Now for some people, those rules can be perhaps intrusive, and expensive. Many people point to certain rules, which they say cost UK businesses money. On the other hand, it means the same set of rules makes it easier to compete with European counterparts, so it means small companies don't have to worry about recognising different qualifications or being able to access European markets. On the one hand, you have the cost of higher regulations, on the other hand, you have access to a single market with very few barriers."
Birmingham - 18 May 2016
21. Various of flags outside East End Foods factory including St George's (England) and EU flag
With sparks flying from a welder at work behind him, Simon Boyd's voice rises as he explains why he believes the United Kingdom should leave the European Union even though his company, Reid Steel, has put up buildings across the 28-nation bloc, from the Netherlands to Poland and Italy.
The EU saddles smaller businesses with reams of unnecessary regulations, says Boyd, Managing Director of the UK's largest steel construction company, based in the southern town of Christchurch, England.
That dilutes Britain's reputation for quality and threatens the nation's sovereignty. But more importantly, he claims, it is costing companies like his.
The views of small business owners like Boyd will be key to the outcome of the 23 June referendum on Britain's EU membership, which polls show is still close.
The country's 5.4 million small and medium-size enterprises account for 99 percent of Britain's businesses and employ 15.6 million people, or half of those working in the private sector.
While the media has focused on the fact that most large companies back EU membership, opinion is divided among smaller firms.
When the Federation of Small Businesses surveyed its members last year, it found that 47 percent supported EU membership and 41 percent wanted to leave.
However, a February poll found that 42 percent said their votes could still be swayed.
"I think we have to take this opportunity," Boyd said with passion. "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to take back control of our own destiny. From a business perspective the European Union has been very bad for us. We are over-regulated and held back as a result of that overregulation."
The federation has asked both campaigns to detail the economic costs and benefits of EU membership and of leaving the bloc.
Answering those questions is another matter, said Angus Armstrong, an economist at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
"No country the size of the United Kingdom has ever left such an integrated economic union," he said. "In other words, there is no precedent to look back upon and draw some lessons - so we're in uncharted territory here. Many people say they would like to have more facts. The difficulty is we haven't been here before."
The International Monetary Fund said this month that a vote to leave the EU would lead to a "protracted period of heightened uncertainty" as Britain would be forced to negotiate bilateral trade deals with its former European partners and countries around the world. That would trigger volatility in financial markets and slow economic growth, the fund said.
The Bank of England says a so-called Brexit would also weaken the pound, increasing the cost of imported goods and spurring inflation.
That uncertainty is likely to hit smaller businesses harder than others mainly by making it more difficult for them to get loans - banks tend to shun riskier loans during times of stress.
Uncertainty is exactly what frightens many small business owners, who don't have the resources of global conglomerates to adjust to dramatic changes.
Birmingham spice trader Jason Wouhra is one of the worried.
His family-run business, East End Foods, started out with a corner store that sold fresh chicken and grew into one of the largest importers of ethnic food ingredients in the UK.
He is voting to stay, in large part because he fears that a vote to leave would trigger a decade or more of trade negotiations.
"I'm not comfortable with the uncertainty of moving out," Wouhra said.
If Britain leaves the EU, Wouhra fears he would need to re-write all the labels on his company's products and repackage the boxes for every country he trades with.
"It would be a huge expense, possibly going into millions of pounds," he said.
But Boyd - who has 130 employees - argues that for smaller companies the benefits of leaving the EU far outweigh the risks of leaving.
Rather than profiting from the EU membership, Reid Steel is actually losing contracts in France because local rules require the company to have a type of insurance you can only buy if you're French, he said.
Moreover, Boyd believes that British companies "will be freer" if the UK leaves the union because they won't have to jump through the EU's regulatory hoops, he said.
