Brexit Bear thinks

10 May 2017

Brexit Bear thinks that maybe we should be a LITTLE more worried than we are, although admittedly negotiation “leaks” and bank staff scurrying like rats down the hawsers are not reliable indicators.

According to the ICAEW UK Confidence Monitor (BCM), business confidence has increased in the second quarter. Non-members may think that we are IN the second quarter, but take it from thAccountants that confidence is up. Despite uncertainty surrounding Brexit, the report showed a gradual upswing in business confidence since the EU referendum, with the BCM Confidence Index being in positive territory for the first time since the second quarter of 2016.

Billions of pounds in EU funding dedicated to supporting small firms must be replaced to avoid the risk of an economic slowdown post-Brexit, according to the latest Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) report. The FSB proposes the creation of a streamlined Growth Fund for England before the Brexit process completes to replace the £3.6bn in EU cash set aside for the funding round ending in 2020. Of course, if we are going to continue to pay out, presumably we continue to claim back, or is the little-explained exit fee (Brexit Bear doesn’t remember that from the referendum) in return for nothing?