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EU Referendum: What London’s businesses are saying about Brexit

As we stand on the cusp of significant social, economic and political upheaval, many Londoners and businesses in the capital are coming to terms with the result they most feared - the UK backing Brexit.

Following yesterday’s historic vote, we have canvassed London business and political leaders for a snap reaction to the UK’s decision to leave the European Union.

From doom to gloom to those striking a more hopeful note, you can find a selection of views from across London’s business landscape below.

Colin Stanbridge, London Chamber of Commerce and Industry

“While the UK electorate has made its choice it is notable that London voted quite differently. As Ministers now contemplate the UK’s future outside the EU, London’s leaders need to be involved in that planning – to help harness the resources necessary to sustain long-term economic growth.

“Government must look to maintain the capital’s position as world-leading place to do business. That means having the pull factors that will attract global companies to invest and locate in London whether that is around business environment, strategic infrastructure or skilled staff. We need to turn the result of the referendum into a time of opportunity for Britain.

“International trade has long been a critical component of Britain’s economic well-being. Now more than ever there is a pressing need to encourage and support British businesses to engage in international commerce and help build a strong and prosperous UK economy.

“In the new landscape, the government needs to develop a national strategy for exports and growth to coordinate departmental activity and ensure appropriately resourced support is delivered to UK businesses looking to trade overseas.

“One element of that strategy should be to ensure London has the infrastructure to compete and that includes aviation capacity to connect to far-off key markets. Therefore it is now an absolute priority that Ministers take a decision on expanding BOTH Heathrow and Gatwick.”

Hiroki Takeuchi, CEO of GoCardless

“As a tech scaleup, we face unpredictable and emerging challenges all the time. But companies like GoCardless have proven their resilience in the market. We sympathise with the next generation of startups, who may suffer without some of the advantages that got us where we are today. But those who make it will demonstrate similar resilience for this new status quo. We must all adapt accordingly.”

“The news of the referendum also highlights the challenge we are trying to solve with GoCardless. The financial world is an ever shifting set of political and technical systems—so the need for global platforms to handle that complexity is clear and present.”

Julie Adams, Menzies LLP

“It will take time to understand and assess the change in our trading relationship with Europe and how this will affect business. Paying attention to the Chancellor’s comments in the next coming weeks will give a good indication of how the UK will look to attract, appease and entice businesses and key stakeholders to keep faith in a post-Brexit Britain.

“It is important for businesses to avoid a knee-jerk reaction following the decision to leave the EU. Although at this stage we have limited knowledge of what the long term impact will be, it is likely that a Brexit will have little effect on businesses in the short term.

“Fiscal planning won’t change overnight and businesses shouldn’t let economic uncertainty choke up their trade for any longer. Businesses shouldn’t be scared by this outcome, common sense must prevail and a ‘business as usual’ approach should be adopted until further information is obtained.”

Robin Paterson, Joint Chairman & CEO of United Kingdom Sotheby’s International Realty

“The UK’s decision to leave the EU is an historic event and we should embrace this wholeheartedly. This opens new opportunities for investment, we may have fewer European investors in the coming months but we believe there will be significant inward investment from Asia, as well as from the US. Buyers from these regions will undoubtedly be looking to snap up bricks and mortar in the UK with the predicted fall in sterling.

“Regardless of Brexit, the peak of the market is behind us, both in the residential and commercial sector, and these changes will hopefully create a split market across the capital. Areas which are more reliant on EU buyers such as South Kensington and Angel may well see a price correction whilst others favoured by non-EU buyers will perform well. These price corrections are crucial to create churn in the market at all levels.”

Terry Scuoler from manufacturer’s organisation EEF

“While it is not the result many businesses wanted, it’s the democratic will of our nation. The Government must move very quickly to stabilise the economy, reassure the markets and shore-up business confidence.

“The process of leaving the Union will take some time, and the Government should not rush to instigate Article 50 and the formal exit process, while there is so much uncertainty. Ministers must think carefully about our negotiating position while setting out a clear roadmap for establishing a new deal with the EU which remains our biggest market and trading partner.

“We need a clear vision for a new relationship between the UK and the EU, but we must also avoid throwing the baby out with the bathwater. In the complex task of unpicking the UK from EU regulation and legislation, the Government must tread carefully, keeping if we can a trading relationship with the single market, avoiding dramatic overnight changes and not becoming bogged down to the detriment of making long-awaited and much-needed decisions on projects vital to our future economic prosperity.

“We must also ensure that the skilled workers we need are still encouraged and enabled to live and work in the UK.”

Angus Dent, Archover

“The outcome is a disaster for this country. You can expect foreign businesses, institutions and other investors to start pulling out of the UK. The Chancellor will be forced to put together an emergency Budget to plug the gap and this country, which was on course to become the world’s fourth largest economy, will now go backwards. What a waste of all the hard work.”

Michael Kent, Azimo

“We’re disappointed that the British electorate has decided to leave the European Union. Here at Azimo we passionately believe that the world needs less borders not more.

“As we’ve said before, this is also a blow to London’s financial services industry: many companies here depend on both EU market access and the ability and legal right to passport their services to the rest of Europe. I anticipate that we’ll see many finance players moving some, or potentially all, operations to elsewhere in Europe. Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Dublin are all obvious candidates.

“As an entrepreneur, the most difficult part about this entire debate and vote has been the uncertainty it has created. Even now that we know that the final decision is to ‘Leave’ the European Union, we do not know how this is going to evolve in the next few months and it could even take years. We’re not worried about our business.

“We’re in a unique position as a well funded start-up to be able to respond to changing market conditions quickly and easily. The good news is that the FinTech industry is thriving across the whole of Europe at the moment, should London’s position as the heart of European FinTech now change as a result of this vote.

“In the meantime, we’ll continue to focus on doing what we do best: delivering better faster and lower-cost money transfers to help our hardworking customers create a better life for themselves and the world around them.”

Naomi Heaton, LCP

“Prime Central London real estate is expected to benefit from a flight to quality and the security of blue-chip tangible assets, against a background of highly volatile financial markets.”

“It is now likely that property prices in Prime Central London will increase. Whilst LCP had originally predicted that this would not occur until 2017, the signs are that the re-entry of investors into the market will be more rapid than originally expected. LCP have received a stream of enquiries from the early hours of this morning.

“In light of the anticipated appetite, particularly from foreign investors, LCP has decided to make a second share offering available for its quoted property company, London Central Apartments III, which exclusively invests in the private rented sector in Prime Central London.”

Chris Bryce, Association for Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed

“Today’s historic result has huge implications for the UK’s 4.7 million self-employed workers and they’ll be wondering what it means for them. The Prime Minister assured us that there will be no immediate effect on the freedom of movement of goods, travel and labour – but over the mid to longer term we need clear answers to all of the questions that will arise from leaving the EU.

“Now is not the time for any action which would hinder the UK’s independent professionals or stop them contributing to public or private sector development.

“The Government now needs to counter any uncertainty through an agreed strategy with business as soon as possible. David Cameron is right to take time before leaving office, so proceedings aren’t rushed. Instead, our exit should be carefully planned in consultation with business organisations over the next two years, supported by strong, committed leadership.

“IPSE believes this new era can and must be taken as an opportunity for the UK. Priorities should be new global trading arrangements, cutting burdensome regulation on small and micro businesses and ensuring that Britain has the most flexible and attractive economy in the world. With these priorities, the UK can be a place where freelancing and contracting can thrive.

“New circumstances always bring new opportunities for freelancers. We should be optimistic about the future and IPSE will continue to push the importance and value freelancers bring to our economy.”

Nelson Sivalingam, Wonderush.com

“I voted to stay IN the EU and to vote out this nationalistic, hate-preaching, narrow-minded and regressive propaganda.

“Although the leave campaign pitched that we will be better off financially, the plain fact is that much of UK company investment and Foreign Investment is heavily linked to having a guaranteed tariff-free access to the EU market. Raising early stage funding in the lead up to the Referendum has been tough as investors have been very cautious due to the uncertainty and this just gets worse.

“Recruiting international talent is already harder than it should be and by leaving the EU we’re taking a further step back. Startups already felt the pressure to take their business to the states and raise money across the pond in order to scale their business. I believe this will now happen earlier and many startups will move out of the UK.

“The idea of proposing to leave and then make individual trade agreements is like having a divorce but then asking to be friends with benefits!

“Diversity is an integral part of any company culture and it is a shame this immigration cause has been used as a proxy for a racial agenda and economic discrimination. We’re about bringing people together and today we’ve fallen for divisive politics! We help people host classes and experiences and essentially run small businesses and that’s just got harder. We will need to work this out and move forward but not without reflecting on why this happened.

“We should have been leading the EU not leaving!”

Edward Heaton, founder & Managing Director Heaton & Partners

“Regardless of individual sentiment about the outcome, there is no doubt that there will be international buyers who may initially give the London market a wide berth. This could be short lived if the pound drops dramatically, as London will suddenly look much better value to foreign buyers. There is a risk that with a period of uncertainty ahead of us, prices may drop off, but I believe that any fall will be limited and suggestions of a crash are overstated. The effect is most likely to be felt in London and the South East.”

Want to get your views across on this historic day? Drop us a line at billy.wood@bdaily.co.uk or tweet us at @BdailyLondon and let us know your thoughts.

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