The Brexit Effect

I believe that many businesses have been for some time curtailing forward investment plans, but that spending curtailment has now spread to more short term expenditure as the growing commercial instability of the United Kingdom has become apparent.

As I have just stated in an alternative thread, my own company is to shift it's primary investment expenditure plans to opening offices and operations in Belgium.

It would seem that many other commercial operations are conserving on investment and expenditure in Britain while looking to the continent for future expansion.

I’m so sorry. This knock on effect is so hard. I hope you get paid soon

A good reason then to ‘get this done’.
Businesses need certainty.
I hope 31 October isn’t extended. There’s been enough talk now, by far.
A decision needs to be made.
Enough already.

But some people are making a lot of money out of it, are they not. Rees Mogg for eg. John Redwood advised people to invest outside of this country etc etc. At times like this it's the satellite companies that suffer.

If we had left at the end of March, as we should have done, things would have been more settled by now so you only have (mostly) Remainer MPs and rubbish Remain supporting negotiators to thank for this extended period of uncertainty. Actually, we could have left in 2016; there was no need for a lengthy negotiation period which Theresa totally wasted anyway. The ERG and other Brexiteer MPs couldn't vote for her deal which would have kept us under EU law indefinitely. That is NOT BREXIT.

Some business may suffer, I agree, others will flourish, just as they have done over the last 40+ years while we have been in the EU (originally, the ECC). I can't think of one single occasion though where the EU has actually helped any of our business to survive but I could give numerous examples of where the EU had given grants ( paid for with our own bloody money) to companies to up sticks and move out of this country, some even to benefit non EU countries like Turkey!

I don't see how Brexit has got anything to do with you not getting paid. Perhaps further clarification might assist in the casual reader understanding your position.

Urmstongran Quote [ A good reason then to ‘get this done’. Businesses need certainty. I hope 31 October isn’t extended. There’s been enough talk now, by far.

A decision needs to be made.
Enough already.] End Quote.

Urmstongran, the problem is that the 31st of October will not be "the end of all this". Unless Britain leaves the EU with full access to the free trade area and the customs union then a full trade agreement will have to be negotiated.

The above could take at least one or two years, and in the meantime, Britains businesses will be in limbo with perhaps tariffs applied to their goods and just in time delivery schedules (JIT) a thing of the past.

The above will make being based in Britain and looking to trade into the EU uncompetitive.

Which is why as Urmstongran has posted, we need to get this done.

If it's going to take "at least one or two years" to sort out free trade, the customs union as well as the negotiation of a full trade agreement, had we already left this could have been well on the way to completion or even completed.

If October 31st is extended, it will be disaster.

Did I hear Trump [?] say that WTO rules needed to be altered for some reason. And if so, how is trading under WTO rules more democratic than being in the EU? Who makes up WTO rules? Do we get to vote on them ??

Cash flow is notoriously slow in August, we have the same "slow payers" every year.

I’m not that daft Grandad1943 I do realise 31 October will of course only be the end of the beginning.

But the fact of it alone will be cathartic (for most).

Time then, with no going back, to look to our future and make the best of it.

This Hokey Cokey posturing is beyond silly now. More than 3 years!

Smileless2012, many large commercial organisations have now made the decision to relocate to the European Union due to the size of the market as compared to Britain, should the UK leave.

The above means that companies such as ours have to decide if they wish to follow their main customers in relocation and therefore base themselves (or part base themselves) in the EU.

The above is not the sole reason on the part of my company, as the treat if deregulation of workplace safety also has weighed heavily in our decision.

Apologies should be "threat" in my above post not "treat".

It does need to be done one way or the other but 2 years to get the benefits is too optimistic to get any net benefits for a no deal exit, best guess 5yrs plus.
Maybe there will be trade benefits outside the EU in the future, at present there is nothing but dreams of a free trade deal with Trump. I would be very glad to hear just what the benefits to the U.K. economy would be for such a deal, although I can think of many US companies that would benefit.

This won’t be Brexit ( slow paying customers )....for one thing we are still in the EU, but your tardy payers may well be blaming it on that.

OK; so, one minute we have to get Brexit done because uncertainty is causing problems economy/investment wise, but the next minute things that are going wrong are not the fault of Brexit because 'it hasn't happened yet'...

Labaik,the problem is undoubtedly that Britain leaving the European Union on a no deal basis will then shrink the United Kingdom market overnight from one of four hundred and eighty million to one of sixty million.

Therefore many commercial organisations looking at forward investment are placing that investment planning in European Union Member States in preference to Britain.

It is as simple as that.

Ask the IT, pharma and science research companies how they've survived with EU funding!! Ask them why they're relocating (or have already relocated some staff) because they've lost EU money.

Ask the financial service companies why they've done the same and are paying for their staff to relocate to places within the EU.

Ask the now redundant 1000+ EMA staff about losing EU money.

What about all the huge blue billboards I've seen in various towns?

I can think of plenty of names of businesses which have lost money and are about to lose more.

Project Reality.

A friend of mine relocated her business to Germany about nine months ago. Her profits were being slashed by the exchange rate on imports and people's reluctance to spend, thus reducing disposable income. She still lives here in the UK and effectively runs the business online, but over 60 staff lost their jobs.