UK businesses are starting to regain their confidence post the EU referendum result, but employees remain concern about the implications of Brexit on their jobs according to two recent surveys
BDO says its latest Business Trends Report indicates that businesses are now finding that the post Brexit slump has not been as severe as expected, after confidence fell to a three-year low last month.
Business optimism, which predicts growth six months ahead, is now up to 98.7 from 97.9, well above the 95 level which would indicate the start of recessionary conditions. Business output – which reflects companies’ current experience of orders – has fallen again to 97.4 from 98.2.
The firm says taken together, these results suggest that the UK experienced a short, sharp fall in business activity post referendum, but that businesses are confident that this will quickly reverse. In addition, BDO’s Employment Index – which indicates firms’ intentions to hire – remains at 100.9, above the long term trend.
Peter Hemington, partner, BDO, said: ‘After the immediate Brexit scare, businesses are becoming more confident as they start to find that, for most of us, it’s back to business as usual. But ongoing uncertainty and the likely longer-term damage if we exit the single market, are concerns which continue to justify government support for growth.’
According to the Close Brothers Business Barometer, a quarterly survey of UK SME owners and senior management across a range of sectors and regions, over a quarter of employers (26%) report that their employees have raised concerns about the impact Brexit will have on their job security.
The highest level of concern was in the greater London region where over half (52%) of employees actively raised their concerns with their employers, compared to East Anglia (12%), Northern Ireland (13%) and Wales (14%).
Employers in the engineering sector reported highest levels of employee post-Brexit worries (38%), following by print (37%), manufacturing (34%), transport (33%) and construction (31%).
Neil Davies, CEO, Close Brothers Asset Finance, said: ‘Looking at the results from a national perspective, the fact that 26% of business owners admitted to having being asked directly by their employees what Brexit means for them shows that there is a strong level of interest in the impact of the UK’s decision to leave the EU.
‘In most cases the answer was understandably "it’s too early to tell", according to our research.’
