To ask the Minister for the Economy to detail (i) the efforts made by her Department to prepare small and micro-businesses for a no-deal Brexit; (ii) the support provided; and (iii) the advice given to those who sell to GB and the EU.

My Department, working alongside Invest NI and InterTradeIreland, made substantial efforts across the past year to prepare Northern Ireland’s small and micro-businesses for the implementation of the Protocol against the context of a possible no deal, with the message being to prepare regardless of the outcome.

Now that a UK-EU deal has been reached and the Protocol implemented, I continue to work to help businesses prepare for the outworkings of these agreements and to seek longer term sustainable mitigations. It remains important that businesses consider the steps required to ensure they can continue to trade in this new environment as of 1 January.

Support is still on offer for businesses of all sizes. InvestNI continues to offer a range of support services to companies and InterTradeIreland’s Brexit Advisory Service provides financial and professional support. The NI Business Info website draws together material from a wide range of sources to provide a ‘one stop shop’ for guidance and checklists geared towards smaller businesses.

These advice and supports have been tailored to those businesses, particularly small and micro, which trade with Great Britain in goods, and those that trade with the EU, primarily impacted by changes to the trade of services and data.

My Department will continue to provide advice, guidance and support to businesses in the months ahead to support our businesses to adjust to the new trading environment. I want to ensure NI businesses are well positioned to seize the market access opportunities ahead.