With only a few days until parliament officially breaks for Christmas, the Brexit soap opera gets more intense with every passing hour and increasing brinksmanship is being deployed by both the UK and EU as each side tries to broker the best deal.
This leaves much still up in the air regarding whether any deal can be struck in the remaining time, and opens up the possibility of parliament being extended until the 23 December in the hope that some conclusion to the negotiations can be reached before the 31 December cut-off point.
Speculation is rife as both sides 'leak' key elements of the discussions, Michel Barnier claiming that the UK has given way on fishing quotas, potentially accepting 60 per cent of the value of fish stocks from UK waters, rather than the 80 per cent that was originally called for.
Conversely, Barnier's perceived negotiating concessions on border control and customs have caused a backlash from several EU member states, prompting France to threaten to veto any deal, fearing that too much is being lost by EU countries in the process.
In the meantime, British exporters are reported to be forging new links with trade outside of the EU with 20 per cent of all exporters shifting trade to non-EU countries, estimated to be worth £50 billion since June 2016.
This coincides with imported goods from non EU countries rising from 45 per cent to 47 per cent over the past 12 months.
There are, however, still vulnerabilities for those businesses which shift trade to outside of the EU without due diligence around increased trade costs and infrastructure requirements, which can introduce risk exposure.
At this stage, it is almost inevitable that the UK will default to WTO trading terms from 01 January, with any potential deal agreement needing to be returned to parliament and the House of Lords for scrutiny and process before it can be implemented.
There is the chance that a no-deal exit from the EU may pave the way for a return to trading talks in 2021, with neither side forced to negotiate under the constraints of a ticking clock and with a more objective position from which to resume talks.
As soon as January is with us, it will bring changes which businesses and individuals must work around, including no automatic entitlement to live, work, or retire to the EU with free movement, changes to health insurance requirements for travel to the EU - and separate queues for UK citizens at passport checks.
Businesses trading with EU countries will have different export and import paperwork requirements and changes to our immigration system may affect migratory workers who have to meet new, points-based criteria in order to work in the UK.
The one thing that we can all look forward to in January, is greater clarity around the future for UK businesses trading overseas.
