A new car design needs type approval to be sold here or in Europe. The process is pretty rigorous, and cover things you perhaps wouldn't expect. Chassis dimensions and drive past noise are part of the job. It's not HARD - the rules are laid out... but it's laborious and costly.
the UK agency called the VCA (vehicle cert agency) is unclear as to whether it will or won't be part of the EU certification approval status after 2020.
And so car manufacturers who DO use it currently, are beginning to re arrange where they will have their cars Certified for European sales now, for fear that it won't 100% be approved to match EU regs.
First Aston Martin announced it was moving away from the VCA and today Skoda has decided to use the Czech Ministry in future.
Because type approval takes so long and needs excellent planning, often years... the choices have to be made now, simply because the uncertainty is no use to anyone.
It's not a hard core blow to UK industry per se, but it's a great shame for the skill set at the VCA as it's pretty blummin good at what it does.