roundtable


In October, The Business Magazine held a roundtable at The Madjeski Stadium, Reading with sponsors HSBC, advisory and accountancy firm Moore Stephens, leading law firm Gateley plc and Henley Business School. Leading representatives from local and international companies based in the Thames Valley gathered together to discuss what life in a post-Brexit world might look like ...


The prospects for 2017 and beyond Participants


Lined up to debate: the Roundtable team


David Bloxham: Managing director, GCS Recruitment Specialists


Mike Davis: Head of open programmes executive education, Henley Business School


Miles Hewitt-Boorman: South east region director, EEF - The Manufacturers’ Organisation


Nick Hicks: Area director Thames Valley & Surrey, HSBC


Matt Wright reports the roundtable highlights


The tangible outcomes of Brexit to date


David Murray kicked off the discussion with the question that has been taxing most of the UK’s companies over the past few months: “Have there been any tangible changes to your businesses post-Brexit?”


Fourfront chairman Aki Stamatis opened with the view that some property projects had been deferred in the lead-up to the referendum at the start of 2016 and these had yet to be reinstated. This was part of a cooling in the market that had been apparent pre-Brexit.


Managing director David Bloxham echoed this sentiment in respect of some long- term recruitment projects which had also been cut or put on hold pre-referendum, resulting in a 15-20% drop-off for a few


months since “recruitment is very much sentiment-based”.


Bloxham added: “Since August though, business has come back strongly, with our international businesses flying and the UK bouncing back in every sector. It’s important to remember that for some industries, such as technology, the world is their marketplace, not just the EU; for example, if you sell an app on the Internet, your reach is instantly global.”


Mike Davis, head of open programmes at Henley Business School: “I agree – the first thing that tends to get cut in the training and development sector is headcount. We talk to organisations the whole time. However, we know that we can’t be complacent; we recognise that we work in a very competitive marketplace, competing against consultancies and training providers, not just other business schools. So, in conclusion, it’s difficult to gauge at present as nobody has yet formed a coherent view, but we hope to have a better outlook by our next summit in February 2017.”


Legal corporate recovery partner Nicola Kirk said that for Gateley plc Brexit had not changed the way the firm runs its business as it had already assessed the trading environment in the medium term and concluded that it was not going to be a stellar environment for corporate work in a sector which is over supplied and where margins are tight. To combat this the firm took the decision to float


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – NOVEMBER 2016


Nicola Kirk: Corporate recovery partner, Gateley plc


Charlie Nicholson: Head of business space Thames Valley & Heathrow, Vail Williams


Aki Stamatis: Founder, Fourfront Group


Alec Stevens: Head of finance, Peter Brett Associates


David Murray: Managing director of The Business Magazine, chaired the discussion.


and became a plc in 2015 as it considered this would create a platform for continued growth even anticipating a continuing challenging environment. “This innovative way forward suited the needs of our business. As such the firm was already committed to a course of action by the time of Brexit and at present there has been no EU referendum impact immediately visible in our business.”


On the macroeconomic front, the fall in sterling should not have come as a surprise following the ‘leave’ vote. However, senior banker Nick Hicks pointed out that some companies had failed to position themselves for such an eventuality and were now suffering the consequences, albeit not to the same extent as those whose business models had been fundamentally changed, such as parallel importers. Hicks went on to stress that the consequential rise in the FTSE, should not be taken as a tangible measure of


Continued overleaf ... businessmag.co.uk


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