Cheshire business leaders: ‘Life after Brexit will be fine’

Cheshire should not be worried about its post-Brexit economic prospects, according to civic and business leaders in the county.

Speaking at the MIPIM property conference in France this week, Chester Growth Partnership chair Guy Butler said Cheshire has nothing to fear as its baseline economy is the food industry and energy sectors – both of which he believes are “resilient to change”.

Guy, a director of property development firm Glenbrook, continued: “There are also centres across the region like Chester which are much more international than European.

“The University of Chester certainly falls into that category and the region as a whole does very well out of UK tourism.”

The event was hosted by North West law firm DTM Legal and featured representatives of over 30 businesses from the region.

Tom Anwyl, a director of housebuilding company Anwyl Homes, joined Guy in the discussion and explained how there was not likely to be an impact from Brexit on housing sales or demand in the area.

He said: “Brexit probably is a big issue if you are based in a financial capital like London but here it’s not top of the list. Our concerns are much more around improving rail and road connectivity.

“We know there is a lot of focus on HS2, but across the region people are more interested in improving links to Liverpool and Manchester.”

DTM Legal partner Sally Pilott agreed, adding: “Cheshire as a whole voted to leave the EU so, whatever you think of the outcome of the referendum you can’t really argue that there’s going to be a sudden loss of consumer confidence.”

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