Most British businesses have not made Brexit plans

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Most British businesses have not made any Brexit plans, a leading business organization said on Thursday.

A survey by the Institute of Directors (IoD) showed just 29 percent of UK companies had contingency plans in place. The poll of 500 business leaders showed that less than half had even thought about the opportunities or risks presented by the UK’s departure from the bloc.

The survey said many firms remain unclear about what leaving the European Union will mean.

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The IoD said 11 percent of its members had begun implementing Brexit contingency plans while 30 percent were considering their options but had yet to act, less than two years before Britain is scheduled to leave the EU.

"Some changes and costs are inevitable ... but the more information the government can provide on the process of Brexit, the more companies will be reassured they do not have to jump to relocate staff or operations," IoD Director General Stephen Martin said.

UK Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis (L) and the European Commission's Chief Brexit Negotiator Michel Barnier talk to reporters at the start of a first full round of talks on Britain's divorce terms from the European Union, in Brussels, Belgium July 17, 2017. /Reuters Photo

A third of the nearly 1,000 firms that took part in the IoD survey this month said they expected to do no Brexit planning.

The IoD said this comes as academics have already warned that there would be "widespread, damaging and pervasive" costs if Britain failed to reach at least a transitional trade deal with the EU before it leaves.

Britain started full Brexit talks on Monday but Prime Minister Theresa May's government is split over how much it should focus on minimizing the disruption of leaving the EU for businesses or prioritize other goals such as asserting the supremacy of British courts and migration controls.

A view of the Canary Wharf district is seen in London, Britain July 7, 2017. /Reuters Photo

Major banks have started to move staff from London and the policy chief of the city's financial district told Reuters recently that Britain must negotiate a staggered departure from the EU in the next few months or risk seeing thousands of finance jobs move overseas.

Anand Menon, a politics professor at King's College London who directs a research group into Brexit, said a failure to reach a deal with the EU would be highly costly.

Nuclear plants might be unable to operate, airlines might be unable to fly and businesses would find it hard to enforce contracts without a deal, the group, UK in a Changing Europe, said.

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"Our findings show a chaotic Brexit would, at least in the short term, spawn a political mess, a legal morass and an economic disaster," Menon said.

Credit ratings agency Moody's said on Tuesday that ports and airports could face "dramatic" restrictions without a deal.

Britain's government says it is confident it will reach an agreement but has not ruled out abandoning talks if it believes the EU is seeking to inflict long-term damage on Britain.

(Source: Reuters)

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