British firms have yet to feel financial impact of Brexit
29 Nov 2016

Three out of four UK businesses have said they have yet to feel any positive or negative financial impact from the Brexit vote, according to new research by the insolvency and restructuring trade body, R3.

In contrast, 16% of all businesses say that the vote has already had a negative financial impact on them, compared to just 5% of businesses who say that the outcome of the referendum has had a positive financial impact.

The businesses that are most likely to have said they’ve seen a negative financial impact from the referendum result are large companies employing 251 or more people. 23% of large companies say they have seen a negative financial impact from the referendum result, while just 2% say they have experienced a positive impact.

President of R3, Andrew Tate said "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."

Andre concluded "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."