Brexit has been an exaggerated issue in the UK. Politicians and business people have been divided on the issues. Nevertheless, British companies have a little concern with the Brexit, as they believe UK leave the European Union will not affect the business.
Forbes reported the recent poll by two institutions, ICSA and Core Partnership, the company secretarial recruitment specialist. In the survey, over half of the respondents confirmed that their organizations did not plan a specific contingency plan or strategies to deal with UK exiting the EU bloc. Only 41% of respondents considered the referendum have effect on their organizations.
Chief Executive of ICSA Simon Osborne expressed his disappointment over the result, "Whilst not all organizations operate within Europe, it is surprising that boards are not at least considering the knock-on effect that an exit could have on the underlying economy. If sterling goes into free-fall this will have an impact regardless of whether or not they have import or export agreements with Europe."
Another survey was conducted by Confederation of British Industry and Pricewaterhouse Cooper on 104 financial service companies. In its quarterly survey,banking and investment management have seen the sharpest deterioration over Brexit sentiment, and also optimism among building societies. While the sentiment in the insurance sector is broadly flat.
Other issues like slowdown in China has become more concern for business people rather than sole Brexit issue. As CBI Director for Economics Rain Newton-Smith said, "Concerns over China and a volatile start to the year for markets, alongside uncertainty about a possible Brexit, have created a perfect storm to dampen optimism in financial services."
Previously, billionnaire David Ratcliffe has stated that European Union is a poor concept, regardless common market is a good one. He said plainly that fear over Brexit has been exploited too much. Even with UK exit the European Union, trading between UK and European countries will continue, as it is mutually beneficial.
In the latest conflict over Brexit, the anti Brexit has accused pro Brexit to be hypocrite for hiring European migrant in the Leave.EU campaign. Arron Banks, the major donor for Leave.EU campaign told The Guardian that the accusation was misplaced, "I don't feel any affinity towards French, Germans and Spaniards. I'd much rather deal with my own kith and kin."
Meanwhile Bank of England reiterated its concern that Brexit will push up borrowing costs and weaken sterling further. The Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee as quoted by Reuters said, "The outlook for financial stability in the United Kingdom has deteriorated. Domestic risks have been supplemented by risks around the EU referendum."
As UK is divided over Brexit, British companies only showed a little concern regarding the issue. Companies considered Brexit do not affect their business in a big scale. Meanwhile Bank of England worries with the outlook of British financial with the possibility of Brexit in June 23 referendum.
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