IT’S the quintessential image of a Scotsman and the perfect way to stand out from the crowd.
However, concern has been raised by the boss of a Glasgow firm that a lack of information is preventing the kilt being hired by ex pats living in the European Union.
Michael Dalrymple, owner of A1 Kilt Hire in the city’s north, said little clarity over the cost of tax post-Brexit on goods into the block has made it impossible to price items.
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Mr Dalrymple said: “We have the demand and the product but what we do not have is information.
“Our very own UK Government cannot advise me on what taxes would need to be paid when returning kilts outfits to the UK.
“If we do not know what the costs will be, how can we possibly price the hire?”
Since leaving the European Union on January 1, most goods sent to the continent from the UK are now subject to extra tax and paperwork.
Mr Dalrymple added: “Furthermore, the government could not advise us on the paperwork that will be required to accompany our hire outfits for the journey.
“We have lost much needed income when the wedding industry has been devastated by Covid. Where are the “benefits” of leaving the EU that we were promised?”
The Balmore Road firm’s local MP, Anne McLaughlin, has raised the issue with UK Government ministers.
The Glasgow North East woman said: “One of the biggest global growth markets for local companies, until Brexit, was the EU.
“A1 Kilts in my constituency was doing a roaring trade hiring kilts to wedding parties in Europe.
“But nobody in the UK Government has been able to tell them if and how they can continue trading because their products were for hire and not for sale.
“People understand the need to restrict business during the pandemic to protect lives and suppress the virus, what they, and I, will not accept is a lack of information and a lack of planning by an incompetent UK Government resulting in the completely avoidable destruction of their livelihood.”
The UK Government did not respond to a request for comment.
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