Last updated on July 4th, 2016 at 10:41 am
This is part one of a five part series on B2B leaders and their opinions of Brexit.
Nothing said good morning like waking up to videos of Trump endorsing Brexit after the vote on June 23rd. The 51.9% leave to 48.1% remain result triggered David Cameron to resign, the pound to spiral, and Scotland to restate its intention to hold another referendum on its separation from the UK. Whether people voted out of rage or not, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage finally got their Independence Day. With markets and currency exchange reacting dramatically and uncertainly, we asked B2B leaders for their opinions on what happened and what’s to come.
When UK parliament proposed the European Union referendum act in 2015, no contingency plan was put in place. Therefore, there is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to the future of the relationship between the UK and the EU. The referendum result is not binding, it is advisory. The person to make the call on triggering the notice under article 50 will be David Cameron’s successor.
Complexity in business travel, tariffs, currency volatility and a changeable investment climate are all potential outcomes of the democratic decision for a Brexit. According to Miriam Gonzalez, Co-chair of Dechert’s International Trade and Government Regulation practice, there will now be a period of extreme legal uncertainty in business.
SAP hopes the uncertainty will be mitigated by an orderly exit. “SAP fully respects the democratic decision of the UK voters. SAP hopes that all parties in the UK and in Europe can reach a positive exit settlement quickly, minimizing the uncertainty to business, as the UK moves from valued member to valued partner of the European Union,” said a spokesperson to B2B News Network today.
Vicki Saunders, founder of SheEO, is approaching this uncertainty with optimism. In a Facebook post, Saunders reminded us that “62 people have the same wealth as 3.5 billion people”, and “Brexit [could be] the beginning of the end of our broken aggregation model.” We are reminded everyday through events such as the U.S. election and the U.K’s separation from the EU, that people feel they are unable to get ahead with the current system in place and they want a change.
Part 2 here.
