Tag: Lead paragraph

Nearly one in three British businesses are planning to relocate some of their operations abroad or have already shifted them to cope with a hard Brexit, according to a leading lobby group. The Institute of Directors (IoD) warned that 29% of firms in a survey of 1,200 members believed Brexit posed a significant risk to their operations in the UK and had either moved part of their businesses abroad already or were planning to do so. More than one in 10 had already set up operations outside the UK as the prospect of a no-deal Brexit becomes more likely amid Westminster gridlock. Nearly a third of British firms are either considering, or actively planning on, moving operations abroad because of Brexit Standfirst ... unknown title 0% 10 20 30 40 50 60 Activated relocation plans or planning to 16% Considering relocation 13% Relocating but not because of Brexit 6% No Brexit-related relocation plans 62% Don't know 3% Guardian Graphic | Source: Institute of Directors Edwin Morgan, the IoD’s interim director general, said: “We can no more ignore the real consequences of delay and confusion than business leaders can ignore the hard choices that they face in protecting their companies. “Change is a necessary and often positive part of doing business, but the unavoidable disruption and increased trade barriers that no deal would bring are entirely unproductive.” Large companies such as Sony and Panasonic have relocated their European headquarters from the UK to the continent, but the IoD said smaller companies were also enacting plans. For these firms, typically with tighter resources, to be thinking about such a costly course of action makes clear the precarious position they are in.” The survey of company directors found that 11% had already executed relocation plans and 5% were planning to relocate in connection with Brexit, while a further 13% were “actively considering” a move out of the UK. Business leaders are becoming increasingly concerned over a build-up of uncertainty while the government attempts to negotiate changes to the Irish backstop, which would keep the UK inside the European customs union in advance of a trade deal being reached. However, we have had to make contingency plans to enable us to continue to be eligible for funding from the EU and to trade with EU member states.” So just when, exactly, will the City press the no-deal panic button? | Nils Pratley Read more Ever since the vote to leave the EU in 2016, business groups including the BCC and the CBI have lobbied ministers, arguing that Britain’s exporters needed access to the customs union, which allows goods to be imported tariff-free. Tim Hardman, managing director of the London-based Niche Science & Technology, said he had recently returned from a trip to Vienna to view office space for an offshoot inside the EU, which currently sets the regulations for the UK’s pharmaceutical industry.