BREXIT
UK firms near point of no return
BBC
Businesses are becoming exasperated at the lack of progress in Brexit talks and are pausing or cancelling investment in the UK, reports BBC.
A week that many had hoped would bring progress in the talks has now come and gone without a breakthrough.
Employers group the CBI says 80 per cent of surveyed members feel Brexit uncertainty has already had a negative impact on investment decisions.
On Friday, Theresa May held a conference call with 150 top bosses.
She wanted to reassure them that she was still confident of striking a deal and that she recognised their concerns.
The chief executive of one company on the call told the BBC the PM had done a good job and had a reassuring tone while another said there had been nothing new in her message.
Of the members surveyed by the CBI, 39 per cent said they would trigger
additional contingency plans if there was no further clarity by November, while a further 19% said it was already too late.
Nicole Sykes, the CBIs head of EU negotiations, says the situation is urgent, pointing to concrete examples of cancelled projects: We heard from a fashion house that wanted to set up a new factory in the UK. 50m of investment, cancelled.
But were also talking about some small things. We heard from a Northern Ireland farmer who wanted to build a new machine to make their operations more efficient, grow competitive. Again, thats been cancelled. So we really are talking about real economic consequences.
Despite the PMs attempts to calm nerves, many businesses are in the process of stepping up their preparations for leaving the EU without a deal at the end of March next year.
Supermarket executives told the BBC they were weighing up the viability of flying in fresh food from outside the EU to avoid potential log jams at the ports like Dover.
Different companies reached different conclusions.
