The majority of British firms are poised to implement their Brexit contingency plans by year’s end if there is not greater clarity over the country’s exit from the EU, a leading business group said on Sunday.
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said these plans could include cutting jobs, adjusting supply chains outside the UK, stockpiling goods and relocating production and services overseas.
The warning comes amid growing fears that Britain might crash out of the EU in March without a deal on the future relationship. That could see tariffs placed on British exports, border checks reinstalled and restrictions imposed on travelers and workers — a potentially toxic combination for businesses.
“The situation is urgent,” CBI director-general Carolyn Fairbairn said. “The speed of negotiations is being outpaced by the reality that firms are facing on the ground.”
Discussions between the two sides are at an impasse over how to maintain an open border between EU member Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK.
A summit of EU leaders last week failed to yield a breakthrough. December is the next scheduled EU summit, leaving the Brexit process tight ahead of Britain’s official departure date on March 29. Even if a divorce deal is forged, there are doubts over British Prime Minister Theresa May’s ability to secure the necessary majority in the British Parliament, given bitter divisions over the topic.
“Unless a withdrawal agreement is locked down by December, firms will press the button on their contingency plans,” Fairbairn said. “Jobs will be lost and supply chains moved.”
Fairbairn’s warning was based on a survey of 236 member firms tilted toward small and medium-sized companies with up to 500 employees, undertaken from Sept. 19 to Oct. 8. The survey found that 82 percent of firms will have started to implement contingency plans by December if the Brexit process is not any clearer.
The CBI said that 80 percent of firms say that Brexit has had a negative effect on investment decisions, more than double the 36 percent recorded a year ago. The survey found that 66 percent of businesses said that Brexit has had an effect on the attractiveness of the UK as a place to invest, while 24 percent said there had been no effect.
Some big companies are becoming increasingly vexed by the impasse in the Brexit talks.
“Uncertainty is draining investment from the UK,” Fairbairn said.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
RSS