CBI president Paul Drechsler has warned that a majority of UK businesses will move staff or slow recruitment unless politicians adopt a “single and clear strategy” to halt the Brexit “soap opera”.
Speaking at today’s CBI conference in London, Drechsler said UK and European politicians had to adopt a more flexible approach to ensure the number of businesses making changes to their workforces did not rocket.
“Brexit is only 508 days away. But for many businesses, their alarm clocks are set even earlier than that. They’re set to the moment they will actually enact their contingency plans,” he said, pointing to CBI research that showed growing caution in UK plc.
“For 10% of businesses the alarm has already rung, and they’ve begun moving staff or slowing recruitment without a transitional deal, when EU leaders gather in Brussels for the March summit, a total of 60% of businesses will have done the same. The clock is ticking.”
Drechsler singled out metro mayors for making a “fabulous start”, but said he had never seen a business environment “so rich in opportunity and so mired in threat”.
The CBI president, who is also chairman of Bibby Line Group, spoke before the prime minister, who called for “rational optimism” and said there were “huge opportunities ahead”.
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