Despite the majority of UK businesses seeing no sign of financial impact, 16 per cent of all businesses, equivalent to 283,000 businesses, say the vote has already had a negative financial impact on them, compared to just 5 per cent of businesses, 85,000, who say the outcome of the referendum has had a positive financial impact.
Andrew Tate, president of R3, says: “The immediate shock of the referendum result was much briefer than expected, and many businesses – and importantly, consumers – have adopted a business as usual approach since then.”
“The UK is, of course, still a member of the EU, so the impact of the vote itself will be limited for the time being. When we find out what Brexit actually means, things might begin to change.”
“In the short-term at least, there are likely to be one or two instances of ‘Brexit’ being used as a bit of a convenient excuse by companies when they run into trouble.”
Andrew Tate adds: “That said, Brexit will be causing genuine problems for a significant minority of companies, and it will be benefitting others. The main reason for this is the sharp fall in the value of the pound, importers will have been hurt, while exporters may have seen an increase in demand for their products. Uncertainty over the future of the UK-EU relationship may put some important deals on hold, at least temporarily.”
“Anecdotally, while our members say they are yet to see any increase in Brexit-related appointments, some have reported an increase in calls from worried business owners looking for advice.”
“While a number of recent surveys have reported business confidence falling since the vote, that doesn’t appear to have yet translated into a financial impact for most businesses.”
Larger businesses most likely to have been hurt by referendum result
The businesses most likely to say they have seen a negative financial impact from the referendum result are large companies employing 251 or more people.
23 per cent of large companies say they have seen a negative financial impact from the referendum result, while just 2 per cent say they have experienced a positive impact.
Andrew Tate says: “Larger businesses have much more of a direct exposure to Europe or are much more likely to import materials than the UK’s smaller businesses. They will bear the immediate brunt of any Brexit effect, whether positive or negative.”
