roundtable


Bloxham ventured that the Government might even look to cut corporation taxes, in order to send out the message that the UK was looking to do business on the world stage: “We need to make the UK as attractive as possible as a global hub.”


However, for the Government to merely ensure the continued supply of cheap money, propped up by the Bank of England was not felt to be a sufficiently robust response to Brexit.


Again, the needs for consistency, planning, and communication between government and business were cited as pre-requisites for ensuring the continuation of post-Brexit growth.


Bloxham: “We know what it’s been like when funding has been difficult in the past, so we have to assume that the Government will make it as easy as possible for us to continue funding growth.”


Hewitt-Boorman did sound a note of caution on this point: “Many companies over-borrowed in the past and got themselves into difficulties. We’re now starting to see price expectations rising again; 2008 was a long time ago ...”


Murray asked whether this meant businesses should look at selling now, if the assumption was that things were only going to get worse?


Hewitt-Boorman: “It’s two sides of the same coin – for every buyer, there’s a seller, and you want to marry the two sides together to get best price. As we’ve already discussed, there is likely to be more complementary diversification, as businesses look to offer more services to the same client to gain a greater share of the same wallet.”


Kirk agreed and said that Gateley would grow the complimentary services that it could offer.


Outward thinking, rather than inward looking?


Stamatis posed the interesting question: “By voting for Brexit, are we positioning ourselves as anti-EU or pro-world?”


Hicks wondered: “Have we ever felt very European?”


The biggest immediate risk was felt to be that the UK would no longer be seen as a gateway to Europe. Hicks noted that there would be a tangible cost as some jobs moved over to Europe out of necessity (eg certain banking functions), and an opportunity cost, as some international companies elected to invest in Europe rather than in the UK.


Bloxham commented that GCS Recruitment had seen a material pick-up in its Dublin- based business post-Brexit with a lot more Europeans now interested in working there.


Labour mobility and the young


Another risk discussed was that of the labour market, with the need for clarity from the Government sooner rather than later on this issue, because, as Bloxham pointed out: “There’s business planning, but there’s also life planning.”


Already, there were apparently signs of unrest amongst employers who relied upon lower-skilled and specialist-skilled foreign labour, and who could see their business models under future threat.


The group discussed the human element of Brexit, and particularly the disaffection that the younger age groups were now feeling, having voted overwhelmingly to stay in Europe.


Stamatis: “Both of my kids grew up attached to Europe, but we are now no longer attached – what message does that send out to them?”


Davis suggested that Brexit had ‘knocked us back’ in the rest of the world’s eyes, especially the US, who had always viewed the UK as one of the most multi-cultural societies. Stamatis added a story about his son, a 24-year old working in Sydney, and now seeing and hearing about the UK from the Australians’ point of view. There was apparently a lingering resentment over there that still pervaded to this day, about being ‘dumped’ when the UK joined Europe back in the 1960s. The question now being asked by Australians was: “Is Britain now saying we want to join the world, or by making this decision to leave the EU are we indicating we are wanting to withdraw from it and become more insular?”


Once again, the point was made that the UK needed to be looking outwards, rather than inwards.


Brexit positives


On the positive side, the UK will have bargaining power as a significant importer of European products, from Irish produce to German cars.


Moreover, from an export point of view, the EU remains a low-growth region, with its ability to sell on a wider stage not best served by collective agreements between 28 disparate countries.


Bloxham: “We need to push the UK out to the global market – to be considered influential to the rest of the world.”


Hewitt-Boorman: “We now have to do something; we can’t just rely upon the EU. I’d like to think that we can become more positive and more entrepreneurial- looking now that we’re no longer in a club of 28. This, however, will depend upon the mindset of the politicians in terms of how it is presented to businesses and entrepreneurs – it’s a sentiment thing.”


Continued overleaf ... THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – NOVEMBER 2016 businessmag.co.uk 47 Nick Hicks


David Bloxham


Mike Davis


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