West Midlands business community split equally on Brexit
THE West Midlands business community is split almost equally on whether to leave or stay in the EU.
A new survey published by the British Chambers of Commerce has shown that if the EU referendum was held tomorrow, 45.2% of the region’s businesses would vote to stay in the EU, while almost as many (44.8%) would vote to leave.
That would leave 9.7% of firms undecided about which way would be best.
The figures are remarkably similar to the Scottish referendum in 2014 when 44.7% of voters said they wanted independence and the eventual result was determined by a small percentage of undecided voters.
The chamber’s survey shows that overall, 54% of UK businesspeople would vote to remain, with 37% voting to leave. However, the ‘leave’ vote is now 7% higher than it was in the last BCC survey, which was conducted in February.
London, Northern Ireland and Scotland are the most pro-EU regions in the UK. The West Midlands is considered the most Euro-sceptic region in the country.
The BCC said that divisions had emerged between the two sides, with those firms trading with other EU markets the most likely to want to remain, while those who do not trade with the continent the more likely to want to leave. Size of business was also a factor, with bigger firms more likely to want to stay.
Paul Faulkner, chief executive of the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, said: “These statistics paint a picture of a divided West Midlands business community on the topic of the EU referendum.
“Since the last round of surveying in January, the ‘remain’ vote has fallen by 5% as the ‘leave’ cohort has grown by 7%. This represents a clear narrowing of opinion within the region over recent months.
“Compared to the national statistics, the West Midlands business vote is a much closer call.”
He said the statistics also revealed that voters were largely committed to their present intentions with 56% of both ‘remain’ and ‘leave’ voters stating they are completely committed to their position. Only 13% of ‘remain’ voters and 20% of ‘leave’ voters said they were slightly committed to their vote and could yet be swayed.
The survey also explored how well business people feel that they understand the long term business implications of the referendum.
On average, 59% of respondents felt that they had a good or complete understanding of what a ‘remain’ result would mean for their organisations, compared to 44% who had the same level of understanding of the implications of a ‘leave’ result.
In contrast, 51% of those surveyed said they had little or no understanding of what a Leave vote would mean for their businesses, compared to 36% who felt they weren’t fully informed about how a ‘remain’ result would impact them.
“This proves that a large proportion of the business community still feels that they require more clarity on key aspects of the referendum if they are to make an informed vote,” said Mr Faulkner.
