A new QCA survey of UK small and mid-cap companies reveals that the majority believe that preparing for Brexit in the past three years since the referendum vote has taken time away from other business priorities.
Read all the survey results in relation to Brexit here
The UK has over 1,200 small and mid-sized quoted companies, and a survey conducted by YouGov found that:
1. The last three years of the country preparing for Brexit since the 2016 referendum has negatively impacted their businesses
- 59% of small and mid-caps say preparing for Brexit has taken either a little or a lot of time away from other business priorities
- 43% say that the possibility of leaving the European Union has had a negative impact on their company’s turnover growth
- 16% have invested less in the UK because of Brexit (although for the majority it has had no impact)
- 31% say that attracting EU nationals has got harder since the 2016 referendum.
2. The information that the UK Government has provided to help prepare for Brexit has been inadequate
- Only 24% of small & mid-caps believe the government has provided adequate information to companies to help them prepare for Brexit.
3. The majority of small and mid-caps are taking action to prepare for no deal:
- More than half of companies (54%) have taken steps to prepare for a no deal scenario.
- Stockpiling goods (17%) and moving operations outside (14%) of the UK are two of the most popular actions. 42% of companies have taken no action.
4. Small & mid-caps are most likely to favour remaining in the EU
- 47% of small and mid-caps say it would be best for their company if Parliament revoked Article 50 and the UK remained in the EU under its current terms.
Read all the survey results in relation to Brexit here
Further results from the QCA/YouGov Small & Mid-Cap Sentiment Index for June 2019 can be found here.
Views on regulation from the survey can be found here.