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‘Brexit in the Boardroom: The View from Business’ survey spoke to 2,500 leaders of large businesses across France, Germany, Spain and UK about the reality of the European Union exit.
According to the online survey, 65 per cent of all respondents believe there will be tariff free access for goods, more than half of businesses think the European Court of Justice will still
have jurisdiction and 59 per cent think there will still be free movement of people. Three-quarters of firms expect clarity on the UK/EU relationship by June 2018 and “irreversible changes”
will be made to their business planning. Head of FTI Consulting’s Brexit taskforce, John Maloney, said: “We see fluctuations between countries and sectors but on the whole this is a
surprisingly upbeat response.” The report expressed the business leaders wish for politicians to "get on with it" so they can return to a stable business climate. More than 80
percent of companies in all four UK economies have established Brexit response structures. The Brexit in the Boardroom report by the consultancy said: “Overall the survey results seem to
indicate that businesses are feeling relatively confident that the eventual deal struck will be relatively ‘soft’.” Spanish firms mostly thought Brexit was negative with the majority saying
the UK staying in the EU was preferable. According to the survey, 66 percent of all businesses surveyed said they expected to increase turnover in the first 12 months following Brexit. The
conclusion of the report said: “Generally speaking, those firms that responded to our survey seem to think that Brexit will not have as big an impact as some have suggested. The research
was conducted by FTI Consulting's Strategy & Research team between December 4 and 19. 'Senior decision makers' across the four nation's were quizzed. The breakdown of
those surveyed were 642 from the United Kingdom, 632 from Germany, 646 from France and 648 from Spain. The report was released on February 9. ALP MEHMET DISCUSSES EU MIGRATION PROPOSALS
POST BREXIT “Only small numbers of respondents foresee reductions in turnover, employee numbers and clients in the short term following the UK’s departure in March 2019.” Hans Hack, a
member of the FTI’s Brexit task force, said: “Certainty remains in short supply with little prospect of companies getting comfort on the future trade agreement any time soon.” GETTY The EU
businesses have the vision that there will be a soft Brexit The UK’s government cabinet met last week to discuss the future UK-EU trade relationship but did not agree a final position on
what the relationship should look like. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will do a speech this week laying out his vision of Brexit as Mrs May tries to unite her party and not bow down to
the demands of Brussels.