Following the British referendum vote last June, and the subsequent events that international businesses operating in London have been faced with, on Friday 14th October we hosted a breakfast seminar on “Navigating Brexit Uncertainty: Key Questions for Business Leaders” which was organised in collaboration with our member Wilson Perumal & Company .
To start off the session, Mr. Igor Urra, Secretary General of the Spanish Chamber, warmly welcomed attendees and introduced Ms. Isabel Fernández, Manager, and Mr. Thom Hamnett, Case Team Leader, from Wilson Perumal, who would be taking participants through the different implications and potential scenarios for businesses in the wake of the referendum.
Isabel began the session introducing the context of the Brexit and describing some ‘no-regret’ activities that businesses can undertake to get ahead of the competition. She continued explaining some of the short-term impacts on the UK economy since the Brexit vote such as the currency impact, the delay in investments and an evident decline in employment levels.
In the medium term, the challenge will focus on negotiations, which would add a new level of complexity as the country will have to define a new relationship with the EU as well as new trade agreements with the rest of the countries.
After that, Isabel gave the floor to her colleague Tom Hamnett, who talked about six possible scenarios in regard with UK’s future trade relationship with the EU. He also added that any possible scenario will have a great impact on the UK businesses.
Isabel continued explaining the concept of “Dynamic Scenario Planning”, which is the hypothetical situation where companies imagine their future. They should build their own “plan B” to face Brexit setting their objectives and developing their own action´s plans.
To conclude the seminar Isabel and Tom explained the importance of taking a step back and read between the lines in order to maintain some scenarios that will put the companies on the front foot for the chances to come.
As it could not have been otherwise, the topic in question paved the way for an engaging and lively Q&A session where attendees took the opportunity to analyse in more detail the different scenarios discussed by the speakers and ponder what each of them might imply for their businesses in particular. After the round of questions, participants could resume their conversation over coffee and pastries and engage in further networking.
We would like to thank again Isabel Fernández and Tom Hamnett from Wilson Perumal & Company for sharing such insightful and valuable information with the participants who attended this session. We hope the event help shed some light on the implications of Brexit for different business sectors.
If you could not join us on this occasion and would like to be updated on future activities, please subscribe to our weekly newsletter or visit the UPCOMING EVENTS section on our website.
