Emma Pullen is clear why she wants to leave the European Union.

Her hovercraft manufacturing business on Sandwich Industrial Estate has fallen foul of a number of laws from Brussels which has made her firm less competitive.

It is limited by the EU’s Recreational Craft Directive, which excludes the hovercraft it makes from gaining CE safety marks.

Mrs Pullen, who has run the British Hovercraft Company for four years, said: “We are on the back foot compared to any other recreational vehicle.

“If you are selling a jetski to Europe, a buyer will just look for the CE mark and know it is safe.

“We comply to the same standards but we can’t use it, even though it is the first thing authorities ask for.

"Trying to get that changed is a massive issue. It has severely restricted our business in the EU.”

The EU, she said, had also impeded her trade to countries outside the single market.
“There are some areas where trade agreements are not in place and we are restricted by the EU,” she said.

“We have had inquiries from Brazil but the import duty there is 80%, which means we are uncompetitive. Brazil is an emerging market but the EU has a no trade agreement with them and has been trying to get one for 18 years.

“My biggest issue with the EU is they waste so much money on sorting out stuff that could be arranged on an individual basis.

It is a massive waste of money and bureaucracy. We are trying to strip away bureaucracy but it is creating more and more.

I don’t see how this situation will ever sort itself out. I don’t know how it can continue to function when more countries are trying to take part in making a decision.

“This stuff, which is so fundamental to how we live and work, should not be taking so long to produce.

“It’s wastage and I don’t do wastage. When you are a small company you keep an eye on costs and it seems to me that the EU is a massive cost and it wastes money.”