With the referendum close, tensions are running high as both sides of the debate present their arguments for how either remaining or leaving will impact the UK.
Business is always going to be a key topic and people have had plenty to say about the EU. From a small business perspective, many SME owners claim they have been left in the dark about the
implications as there simply isn’t any clear information about how it will affect them.
Small businesses are divided on this issue. With some reports saying two out of five SMEs plan to vote for leaving the EU. Other sources say as much as 80% want to remain in the EU.
Businesses supporting Remain
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) says that Brexit could lead to a loss of almost 1 million jobs. A report commissioned by CBI found that Britain could face losing 950,000 jobs and households would be an estimated £3,700 worse off by 2020. There is fear that the UK’s unemployment rate could rise by approximately 2 -3% by 2020. Accountancy firm PwC also found that the economy could lose 1bn, the equivalent of 5% of GDP.
CBI published a survey of its members which employ a third of all private sector employees in Britain. It revealed that 80% believe that being part of the EU is good for their business and 77% said it would be better for the UK economy as a whole.
An open letter from ‘Entrepreneurs for In’ was signed by more than 200 entrepreneurs from companies such as Zoopla, Skype and Domino’s Pizza earlier this year. Another open letter was signed by bosses from companies such as EasyJet, BAE Systems and Shell in support of remaining
The Remain group also said that leaving would bring an economic shock that would be “hugely damaging to our businesses. Leaving could lead to lost investment, missed opportunities and lost jobs.”
More recently, more than 1,280 executives including the directors of 51 FTSE 100 companies have signed a letter in support for staying in the EU.
Vice chairman of Britain Stronger in Europe and Innocent Drinks founder Richard Reed said that start-ups benefited from “being able to do business within Europe’s single market of 500 million consumers, with one set of regulations across 28 countries, and the ability to recruit the brightest people here and across Europe”.
Smith & Williamson Enterprise Index, which measures the views and confidence of managers and entrepreneurs in the UK said that 81% of respondents feel that Britain leaving the EU would negatively impact their business. This is an increase from 13% this time last year. Head of entrepreneurial services, Guy Rigby said that “as we approach the referendum date, business leaders are seemingly more apprehensive about the prospect of leaving the EU.”
Businesses supporting Leave
Former governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King said that there had been a lot of exaggeration regarding the outcome of either staying or leaving the EU. ‘I think it’s very important that people should not exaggerate the impact, either of staying in or of leaving’
Earlier this year, 250 business leaders, including the former boss of HSBC came out to state that EU membership is bad for the UK’s economy. Founder of Carphone Warehouse, David Ross is another Brexit supporter, as well as John Caudwell, founder of Phones4U and Tim Martin the founder and chairman of Wetherspoons.
John Longworth, former director general of the British Chambers of Commerce resigned after being suspended for saying business would improve after Brexit. The BCC said the director’s support for leaving the EU would likely cause confusion due to the group’s official neutral position on the debate. Longworth said: “many firms struggle with relentless interference from the EU and rules that are stacked in the favour of a select number of businesses.
“If we vote leave, liberated from the shackles of EU membership, jobs will be safer, Britain will be able to spend our money on our priorities and we can look forward to faster growth and greater prosperity in the future.”
Recently, Tate & Lyle Sugars has come out with a pro-Brexit letter for their staff in order to tell them about the leaving would benefit the business.
Sir James Dyson has also urged people to vote Leave, citing it as “the last opportunity to regain control of our futures.” He said that remaining in the EU “would be an act of national self-harm.”
Recruitment concerns
There has been some concern over how businesses will have to approach recruitment if Brexit were to happen. While some say that it will be easier to employee people, others say that businesses will lose out from being able to easily employee EU workers that their business relies on.
A Leave campaign poll of 1,000 small businesses found that 14% think the EU will make it easier to employee people while 31% think the opposite.
Anna Soubry, minister for small business said “overwhelmingly companies are saying ‘where on earth am I going to get the people I need – not just in tens but in some cases hundreds – to operate my factory, work in my plant?”
This claim was addressed by John Mills, deputy chair of the Vote Leave campaign. He said that the answer to this would be to train more British people to replace any EU worker who would be lost after Brexit.
Whatever your business concerns, everyone appear to be in agreement about one thing, that you should go out and vote.