The survey asked 369 companies whether they had adjusted their “business plan” since the 2016 referendum to leave the EU, such as by setting up new legal entities, relocating offices or changing their sourcing and supply chains.
Just under a third of companies said they had taken any of these actions to prepare for any change to trading arrangements, the BoE agents found. The survey was carried out between October 22 and November 29.
Business services, a category that includes banks, lawyers and fund managers, were the most likely to say they had made any preparations, while construction companies were the least likely.
The report also examined industries that would be at the forefront of any Brexit-related disruption. Airlines said they were increasingly confident that an agreement would be struck to prevent disruption to flights, whereas ports were concerned about a lack of space and manpower to cope with no deal.
“At this point in time, the ports are not ready for a move to an administrative WTO [World Trade Organization] arrangement with customs checks on both sides of the border,” Mark Carney, the BoE governor, said on Tuesday, emphasising that this assessment was based on information from ports and logistics companies.
He also warned that there were limits to what the government could do to ease the strains on Dover port. Nor would it help if the UK simply waived new controls until it was ready to implement them, he said.
“The issue is if the new standards are applied on the other side. The truck that comes here has to come back. The truck that goes back empty or has to wait isn’t going to come here in the first place. That’s something you learn in about five minutes [speaking to logistics companies],” Mr Carney told the Treasury select committee. [...]
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Bank of England's survey
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