The majority of business leaders called for a remain vote and the shock outcome of Thursday’s Referendum result has left many feeling anxious about the future of their businesses and investment plans.
HSBC has recently announced that it will move a portion of its 48,000 UK based employees into Paris if the UK leaves the single market in post Brexit negotiations. Furthermore, financial giants such as Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and BNP Paribas are reported to have already begun plans to reduce the size of their companies in the UK following the vote as fears over London’s status as the main financial capital in the world grow.
Amidst the uncertainty and a market, Chancellor George Osbourne made a public speech before markets opened this morning in an attempt to calm investors in the capital.
“Britain is ready to confront what the future holds for us from a position of strength. Growth has been robust and employment is at a record high. Our economy is now about as strong as it could be to confront the challenge the country now faces,” he said
His speech follows the release of a poll this morning conducted by the Institute of Directors (IoD) which began on Friday immediately after the result that has since polled over 1000 business leaders.
The results from the poll show that 64% of business leaders around the country feel that a Brexit vote will harm their business as results show that post Brexit plans are already on the table with 24% of members planning on freezing recruitment and 5% of companies saying they will make redundancies.
Simon Walker, director general of the Institute of Directors, said:
“Businesses will be busy working out how they are going to adapt and succeed after the referendum result. But we can’t sugar-coat this, many of our members are feeling anxious.
A majority of business leaders think the vote for Brexit is bad for them, and as a result plans for investment and hiring are being put on hold or scaled back.”
The concluding outcome of the poll showed that three quarters of Iod members said their top priority is to protect the British economy following the reaction of the financial markets that has seen the pound drop to it’s lowest since 1985.
27/06/2016