The UK and the EU agreeing a free trade deal will come as a relief to businesses in East Anglia but "significant changes" lie ahead for firms, according to a business leader.
Prime minister Boris Johnson and EU chiefs announced free trade deal had been agreed in the wake of the Brexit referendum in 2016.
The prime minister said: "We have completed the biggest deal yet worth £668 billion a year.
“A comprehensive Canada-style deal between the UK and the EU. A deal that will protect jobs across this country, that will enable UK goods to be sold without tariffs, without quotas in the EU market."
Chris Starkie, chief executive of New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “It will come as a relief to businesses that a deal has been agreed.
"Businesses have been waiting for the details of the deal for many months and as full details of the deal are released, we will work to make sure that the information and support they need is in place in time for January 1.
“We have urged businesses to take time to plan and identify what actions they need to take and while that is difficult for many in these extremely challenging times, there will still be some significant changes from January 1.”
Ed Savory, partner East Anglian law firm Birketts, said: "This deal offers a much needed degree of certainty of what the post-Brexit world will look like and continuing to be part of a free trade zone with the EU mist be a huge relief for many businesses in the region.
"Of course, the devil is in the detail but this is a positive moment which should provide a springboard to drive the economy forward.
"The new deal is not perfect but it should be a catalyst to give local our fishing industry, food producers and manufacturers the confidence and opportunity to expand their businesses with a greater degree of certainty around trading conditions with the EU.
"The recent blockage of the Channel as a result of a spike in Covid in the UK has served as a timely reminder of how important fluid trade with Europe is, particularly when it comes to perishable goods like food.
"Brexit will provide an opportunity for local producers to grow their market share as almost all businesses rely to some extent on imports from the EU."
Gary Ford, NFU East Anglia regional director, said the deal was also positive news for the region's farmers.
"The EU is our largest trading partner and we have been clear throughout negotiations that maintaining tariff-free access to the EU market is absolutely crucial for our food and farming industry, not only for farmers’ businesses and livelihoods, but for our ability to continue to provide a secure supply of quality, home-grown food for the nation," he said.
"We will now analyse the details of this agreement to ensure it meets the needs of British food and farming.
"The tariff-free element will be a particular relief for farmers that rely heavily on the EU export market, as well as farmers across British agriculture that produce the safe, traceable and affordable food that underpins more than £14 billion worth of export sales each year to the EU.
"With only seven days left until the end of the transition period and traders still facing a huge amount of disruption on the ground, I would urge both the UK and EU to now use the basis of this deal to continue talks to manage any disruption we may experience from January 1.”
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