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[...] A survey of 1,000 businesses by London First, a lobby group, and Lloyds Banking Group revealed the impatience of companies to start planning for life after the UK leaves the EU in March 2019. One-third of those polled said they needed details even sooner — by the end of this year, while 40 per cent said knowledge of transition details would help them unblock investment and recruitment decisions that they had put on hold. “Companies need to be able to see ahead to invest in and hire for the future, we can’t afford to wait much longer,” said Jasmine Whitbread, chief executive of London First.
All of the businesses surveyed had an annual turnover of more than £1m, with nearly a fifth having yearly revenues of over £750m. Most companies wanted to see a transition arrangement that covered all the elements of the existing EU relationship freedom of goods, services, capital and talent, a common set of tariffs and EU legal arrangements. The largest companies were the most positive about a proposed transition period, with nearly half — 47 per cent — saying it would help their business, compared to 35 per cent among small- and medium-sized enterprises.
[..]More than half the businesses surveyed — 54 per cent — said that, since the referendum, they had either been forced to put investment or recruitment on hold, revised their supply chains, or faced reduced demand from their customers. [...]
Full article on Financial Times (subscription required)