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BUSINESS NEWS


Businesses still undecided on EU


B


GBCC board hit the road for tour of Birmingham


The board of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC) is going on tour – future meetings will be held at the various locations which form the wider GBCC. Their first point of call was Burton, where they met at the St.


George’s Park Hotel, part of the Football Association’s home of the English national teams. Pictured (left to right) are: Chris Plant (director, Burton Chamber of


Commerce), Greg Lowson (president, Birmingham Chamber), Tim Pile (former president, Birmingham Chamber), Russell Jeans (director, business services, GBCC), Mike Froom (board member), Dawn Ward (council member, Burton Chamber), Simon chapman (president, Burton Chamber), Henrietta Brealey (policy director, GBCC), Vanessa Stolban (PA to GBCC chief executive), Katrina Cooke (marketing and communications director, GBCC), Mike Hibbert (financial director, GBCC), Paul Faulkner (chief executive, GBCC) and Chris Else (council member, Burton Chamber).


usiness support for membership of the EU has narrowed from 74 per cent


six months ago to 62 per cent, according to a survey of large


businesses by consultants Deloitte. However, the majority still say


the UK is better off in the EU, but the number backing moves to leave has risen from two per cent to six per cent. On the other hand, research from


Britain Stronger in Europe suggests £236bn of UK exports – that’s about 80 per cent of the total, would be at risk if Britain left the EU. An in-out referendum on the


UK’s EU membership is due by the end of 2017. Deloitte surveyed 137 chief financial officers of FTSE 350 and other large private companies – with 28 per cent saying their decision depended on the outcome of the renegotiation of UK membership. Ian Stewart, chief economist at


Deloitte, said that the results of the survey suggested the outcome of the prime minister’s renegotiation with European leaders could have


an effect on how people voted in the referendum. He said: “It suggests there is a


hope that the renegotiation will deliver material improvements for the UK and a sizeable majority are waiting to see.”


‘There is a hope that the renegotiation will deliver material improvements for the UK’


Meanwhile, the Britain Stronger in Europe pressure group says that the EU accounts for half of UK goods exports, worth £148bn in 2014, and that trade would be put at risk by leaving the EU. The Deloitte survey also asked financial officers for their views on the direction of the economy in 2016. It found that business confidence had fallen back to 2012 levels. Only 12 per cent said they were more optimistic than three months ago, down from 36 per cent six months ago.


20 CHAMBERLINK FEBRUARY 2016


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