Business owners in Kenilworth are being urged to make preparations before a Brexit deal is agreed, with less than 100 days left before the end of the current transitional period.

A meeting hosted by the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce on the subject this week allowed local businesses the chance to hear from Saqib Bhatti, the MP for Meriden; James Martin, of the British Chambers of Commerce; Ajay Desai, International Trade Director at the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce; and David Hooper, of Hooper & Co.

Martin said the Coronavirus crisis had put businesses' Brexit preparations back two years but that firms needed to ensure they are ready for what is to come in around three months' time as the transition ends at midnight on January 1, 2021.

Hooper said "Don't wait for the deal. That's the advice in big capital letters!

"If we get an agreement with the EU, it's going to be a free trade agreement but there are going to be declarations and there are going to be checks. If you trade with the EU, you've got to get ready."

Kenilworth firms are being invited to use online training courses run by the Chamber to help them prepare for the coming months.

Hooper said "if you are a business based in Coventry and Warwickshire dealing with the EU, you are the ones that are going to be need to be ready and have everything in place.

"That's why I am urging businesses to make the most of the training courses available and there is a pot of Government money available that companies can access to help get them ready. Companies need to use it."

For more information on the Brexit training courses available visit the Chamber of Commerce website.