From Brexit and Covid-19 to the cost of living crisis – small businesses have had it tough

Nathaniel Cramp and his Sonic Cathedral music label have had to deal with plenty during the past few years, writes James Moore. And things aren’t getting much easier

Small UK labels are struggling outside the single market (Getty/iStock)

Nathaniel “Nat” Cramp was staring at the news with horror.

A no-deal Brexit threatened the future of his small record label, Sonic Cathedral, which has played an important role in the revival of the shoegaze genre, helping some exciting young bands to release their first physical recordings and giving voice to a few old favourites too.

The label’s records are pressed in the Czech Republic and when Boris Johnson was stamping up and down making threats to the EU, no one was quite sure what trading would look like and how punitive the feared tariffs on imports and exports would be.