Opinion CHAMBER LINK
The Official Publication of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce
Editor’s View
By John Lamb
Britain’s businesses are relying on Brexit clarity
Sutton Coldfield
Chamber of Commerce
Greater Birmingham
Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce
UK’s handling of Brexit, it pays to listen. Jaguar’s chief executive was speaking at a landmark summit organised by the G overnment at the ICC in Birmingham which was primarily looking at the future of motoring and specifically the electric car. With the Prime Minister listening in the wings,
W
Front cover: Saqib Bhatti and Paul Faulkner See page 5
Editor John Lamb 0121 607 1781, 0797 1144064
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Deputy Editor Dan Harrison 0121 607 1887, 0797 1144052
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Mr Speth said that if we failed to reach an agreement with Brussels “tens of thousands” of jobs in the sector could be lost with its factories grinding to halt. He said Jaguar Land Rover was committed to the UK but said a hard Brexit could cost it £1.2bn a year, wiping out profits. With BMW, another large employer in our region, also issuing similar warnings about the consequences of Britain’s decision to leave the EU, there is clearly cause for concern. One of the worrying elements of Mr Speth’s
words came when he told the conference that friction at borders could put production in jeopardy at a cost of £60m a day. He said traffic jams on the approach to Dover meant that “bluntly, we will not be able to build cars”. Worryingly, he pointed out that it was now
cheaper to make cars in Slovakia than in Britain but it was re-assuring to hear his commitment to the UK. This Chamber is ensuring that businesses in this
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4 CHAMBERLINK October 2018
hen a man of Ralf Speth’s stature issues warnings that thousands of jobs are at a risk as a result of the
‘Businesses of all sizes need the Brexit negotiations to deliver clarity, precision and results’
As the Chamber chairman, David Waller, told
our annual meeting, we also have many new services and activities being readied to support our members through Brexit and the global changes in our business activities that will follow. It is this uncertainty over Brexit that caused
the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) to downgrade its growth expectations for the UK economy. They are now forecasting growth for 2018 at just 1.1 per cent, down from 1.3 per cent. The downgrades to their forecast for GDP
growth in 2018 and 2019 have been largely driven by a weaker outlook for trade and investment. They say exporters face more subdued growth
given continued Brexit uncertainty and the expected slower growth in key markets. As a consequence, net trade is expected to make a negative contribution to GDP growth over the forecast period. All of this ongoing uncertainty over the UK’s
future relationship with the EU is expected to continue to stifle business investment which can be laid firmly at the door of the snail’s pace Brexit. Businesses of all sizes, from Jaguar Land
Rover to the smallest corner shop need the Brexit negotiations to deliver clarity, precision and results at pace over the coming weeks. The fear is that it is already too late.
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