From now on until Britain has left the EU, CPA are going to post regular blogs for the comments we have seen in the press and elsewhere about Brexit, which is perhaps the most momentous event that will happen to the UK for a very long time and will have long-term implications for every citizen living in this country for good or ill. We aim to be balanced in our reports which will be divided into three categories;

  • Category 1 – Positive comments on Brexit
  • Category 2 – Negative comments on Brexit
  • Category 3 – Neutral comments on Brexit

We posted our first blog on 12th May 2017 (CPA Brexit blog on 12/5/2017)
We posted our second blog on 16th May 2017 (CPA Brexit blog on 16/5/2017)
We posted our third blog on 17th May 2017(CPA Brexit blog on 17/5/2017)
We posted our fourth blog on 22nd May 2017(CPA Brexit blog on 22/5/2017)
We posted our fifth blog on 26th May 2017(CPA Brexit blog on 26/5/2017)
We posted our sixth blog on 2nd June 2017(CPA Brexit blog on 2/6/2017)
We posted our seventh blog on 16nd June 2017(CPA Brexit blog on 16/6/2017)
We posted our eighth blog on 29th June 2017(CPA Brexit blog on 29/6/2017)
We posted our ninth blog on 4th July 2017(CPA Brexit blog on 4/7/2017)

 

Or see all posts referencing Brexit

Please find below our tenth  Brexit blog which has been compiled today on 12th July 2017:-

 

BREXIT; NEGATIVE COMMENT: On 5th July, under the heading “SMEs more vulnerable to Brexit disruption” Simon Lewis, chief executive of the Association for Financial Markets in Europe, warns that SMEs are more likely to suffer from Brexit-related disruption than larger firms. Writing in the Telegraph, he says the banking-related effects of a hard Brexit could lead to a higher cost of capital for SMEs and more restricted access to wholesale banking services. He adds that SMEs would find it harder to navigate these wholesale banking impacts. Mr Lewis also points to the fact that 55% of the SME participants questioned in a report for the AFME admitted that they had made no plans so far for Brexit. The Daily Telegraph, Business, Page: 8

 BREXIT; NEGATIVE COMMENT: On 10th July, under the heading “Dear Brexit breakfast” it was reported that KPMG has calculated that the cost of a family breakfast could rise by almost 13% from £23.59 to £26.61 following Brexit if Britain defaults to WTO rules. The firm made the calculations by taking the cost of mid-range ingredients of a fry-up from a UK supermarket and applying the current EU external customs tariffs to each product. The Guardian, Page: 3 

BREXIT; POSITIVE COMMENT: On 10th July, under the heading “M&A between UK and EU doubles since Brexit” it was reported that deals worth $32.5bn (£25.2bn) were announced in the first half of the year, more than doubling on the same period of 2016. In the first two quarters, Deloitte tracked 247 cases of UK firms agreeing deals worth $17.7bn on the continent, and 188 deals worth $14.7bn into the UK, with French and German companies in particular being highly acquisitive in the UK. City AM.

BREXIT; POSITIVE COMMENT: On 10th July, under the heading “Sales rise with the temperature” It was reported that retail sales rebounded as one of the warmest Junes on record inspired a spending spree on clothes and beauty products. Figures from the British Retail Consortium and KPMG showed total sales rose by 2% in June, up from 0.2% for the same month last year. The Times, Page: 45   Independent i, Page: 42 The Daily Telegraph, Business, Page: 3   Daily Express, Page: 45

BREXIT; POSITIVE COMMENT: It was reported in The Times on 11th July 2017 by Policy Editor Oliver Wright that Malcolm Turnball, the Prime Minister of Australia, undertook yesterday to proceed with a trade arrangement with Britain after it leaves the EU. Mr Turnball had talks with the British Prime Minister and expressed his confidence in Britain’s plans to make global trade agreements.

Mr Turnbull also said “Australia is ready to enter into a free trade agreement with the UK”. He also said that he was confident of an agreement with Britain soon after the UK leaves the bloc in 2019.  He ended his statement that Britain will be able to prosper after Brexit and said that it “would bring big horizons and big opportunities” and that “it is not a counsel of despair as some people have said”.

BREXIT; NEGATIVE COMMENT: On 12th July, under the heading “Finance leaders feeling less positive” it was reported that financial leaders are feeling less optimistic about Brexit, according to a UK-wide survey by Icas. The Icas Brexit Tracker, in association with law firm Brodies, charts a range of responses from -50 (very negative) to +50 (very positive). The May-June survey, based on responses from more than 530 chartered accountants, found that on average the sentiment regarding the experience of Brexit so far was slightly more negative (-9, compared with -6 in March). The Scotsman, Page: 37

D S Baber
Managing Director