Belfast businesses are getting over Brexit faster than the politicians

'If you’re sending stuff to the EU and further afield you’re having the time of your life at the moment'

Graffiti reading 'No Irish Sea Border' under an EU Exit billboard in the loyalist Sandy Row area in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The UK’s departure from the European Union might have caused chaos for Northern Ireland, but it’s been good for business at Belfast-based firm Brookvent — at least for now.

The maker of ventilation systems has seen orders jump as customers across the border in the Republic of Ireland sought to avoid the complications of receiving goods from other parts of the British Isles, said Declan Gormley, its managing director. Under the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol that underpinned the wider Brexit deal, the region benefits from being both part of the UK and EU single markets for goods.