Brexit breeds uncertainty across industrial sector
‘A CLEAR vision for a post-Brexit UK’ is being demanded by Birmingham business leaders after a key quarterly survey revealed ‘subdued’ conditions and uncertainty across the region’s industrial sector.
Sales had remained at similar levels to Quarter One 2016, with a rising number of businesses expecting turnover to stay constant, according to The Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce Business Report for the Second Quarter, in partnership with the University of Birmingham.
While regional businesses saw exports surge in the second quarter – with 35% of firms overall reporting an increase in overseas sales compared to 26% in the first quarter – chamber executive Stephanie Wall said lacklustre conditions were ‘unsurprising’, given at the time of the Q2 report survey.
She says that the business climate consisted of weaker global growth, challenging exchange rates, as well as market uncertainty resulting from the uncertain outcome of the EU Referendum.
Ms Wall, senior policy and patron adviser, said: “On balance, business reported more subdued business conditions in Q2. Only investment plans and exports countered this with marginal or modest increases respectively.
“Subdued conditions are unsurprising given the uncertainty that the past few months has brought leading up to the EU Referendum.
“Now that the Leave decision has been made, we ask businesses to be positive and avoid knee-jerk reactions. We have several years of negotiations ahead before this vote becomes a reality and there is still plenty of business to be done.”
She added: “Greater Birmingham still has much to look forward to through projects such as HS2 and the relocation of the HSBC, both creating a high number of jobs and opportunities in the region.”
The chamber said it will continue to monitor business sentiment in the coming months. The Q3 report will be published in September and will reveal any immediate impacts from the recent announcement to leave the EU.
