As the UK’s departure from the EU loomed, Alex Joll, who runs the Free Range Cafe in Trowbridge’s grand old town hall, thought he had better stockpile one of his key products. “It’s quite random,” he said. “Our coffee comes from Peru, but is stored in a huge warehouse in Germany before coming to the UK, where it is roasted. I thought I’d better stock up just in case. I got in an extra month’s worth a little while ago to tide us over just in case.”
Joll voted for Brexit. “For all sorts of reasons, really. I don’t think the EU was the right institution for the UK to operate in. I’ve lived in France and Spain and am married to a Spanish woman. I think they’ll let us back in when we want to go. It was time for a change.” Ben Laver, 18, who was doing a shift at the cafe, was too young to vote in the EU referendum. He would have plumped for remain. “As a young person, the economic insecurity of leaving the EU is concerning. I don’t think all that was promised – the extra money for the NHS, all the fishing rights – has come to fruition.”
Laver is a member of an alt-rock band called Enter Red. He worries that the departure from the EU will make it harder for his band, which tours the south-west of England, to venture overseas. “Usually you get the cheapest plane ticket, sleep where you can and then dash home. Paying hundreds of pounds for visas may not make it viable for us.” A majority of people who live in Wiltshire – 52.5% – voted for leave. With hours to go before the UK’s final exit, there was no sense of jubilation in the county town of Trowbridge. And for many people, there was a bit of extra work to be done, more rules to read.
Sam Rose, a director of a recruitment company, was to be found ploughing through regulations trying to work out how the changes would affect her business. “We feel in a bit of a no man’s land at the moment,” she said. Her company provides labour for many of the factories, workshops and food-processing plants on the industrial estates on the outskirts of Trowbridge. For years, a steady stream of workers from eastern Europe has arrived here.
“That has been slowing down,” Rose said. Because coronavirus has led to more British people losing their jobs, there is no shortage of labour at the moment. “But we don’t know whether that will change.” Some of the factories for which she supplies labour are reporting concerns that their supply chains with Europe will be impacted. “That could have a knock-on effect on us,” she said. Trowbridge has long attracted people from across the globe. It has large Italian and Moroccan communities and is twinned with the Moroccan city of Oujda. Serkan Ozturk, who is of Turkish origin, set up a fruit and veg shop in the centre of the town in the summer, a bold venture in the time of Covid. “It has been hard,” he said. Now he is a little worried that Brexit could lead to an increase in the price of his fruit. “But I think Brexit will be good for the UK in the end,” he said. Wiltshire’s farmers are not so sure. Nick Bush has an arable and sheep farm north of Trowbridge. He is pleased that there is a deal, but says it is just the start, rather than the end, of the next chapter for British agriculture.
“The fact we have a deal is a good starting point,” Bush said. But he worries that there still could be “hitches” at the borders and is keen to know more about the new environmental land management (ELM) scheme, which will largely replace schemes that have been available under the common agricultural policy. Farmers will not remain quiet if things do not work out. “I like the fact that the government now has to answer more directly to farmers,” said Bush. “They can’t hide behind the EU and say it’s their fault now.” The leader of Trowbridge town council, Stewart Palmen, is sad at the departure from the EU. A Liberal Democrat, he campaigned for remain and for a second referendum.
“What worries me is the ‘little Britain’ attitude. I see us as just being part of the world. My father’s Finnish and I’ve always classed myself as European. Today I’m angry about my citizenship being taken away and my identity being restricted.” His Tory counterpart on the council, Antonio Piazza, also voted for remain but said the deal was a “huge relief”. “I think people are ready for a fresh start, to get on with our lives and think about the positives, such as the new trade deals and relationships with other countries.” Piazza’s family has paperwork to do. His father, Onofrio, a barber in the town, came to the south-west of England from Italy in the 1970s and settled but still has Italian citizenship. “He has a form to complete to stay in the UK,” said Piazza. “But that shouldn’t be complicated.” Piazza said he loved the multiculturalism of Trowbridge. “That won’t change. It is possible to leave the EU and still love Europe.”