The debates in our media regarding how much impact Brexit has had on our economy have focused almost exclusively on the value of the pound compared to the dollar and Euro and the performance of stock market indexes such as FTSE100 which focuses primarily on blue chip international companies and the FTSE350 which tends to focus on UK based companies. This provides easy to use data and allows for quick analysis. In Sussex few of our businesses feature in either of the indexes and whilst currency fluctuations may present challenges or opportunities in terms of exporting and importing products or services these are not the biggest challenges facing most Sussex businesses. As our new Government prepares the nation to leave the EU and replace many laws that are currently linked to EU infrastructure, we are faced with the risk that our new laws and rules will be shaped and formed, not through democratic and accountable processes as Vote Leave implied, but by businesses and individuals with the loudest and most effective voices in the corridors of Westminster. In removing 40 years worth of regulations formed by the Common Market or EU and replacing them with new ones it is possible that small businesses will be ignored by people who do not understand their needs, or worse, who do not really care about them. We know that Andrea Leadsom believed that businesses of 3 employees or less should have no regulations to deal with. The problem with too few rules is that responsible businesses that do provide protection and support for their employees are unable to match the prices of businesses that are prepared to mistreat and exploit their employees. The same is true in terms of environmental protection, where responsible businesses can be placed at a commercial disadvantage. We need our new Cabinet to demonstrate that unlike all of its predecessors, it is truly interested and focused on the needs of small business.