Bloomberg: Most UK CEOs say they would consider moving after Brexit

26 September 2016

The UK’s vote to leave the European Union has left more than three-quarters of chief executive officers saying they would consider moving their headquarters or operations outside Britain, according to a survey of 100 business leaders by the accountancy firm KPMG.

Some 72 percent of the CEOs surveyed said they voted “Remain” in the June 23 Brexit referendum, KPMG said on Monday in an e-mailed statement. While more than two-thirds said they’re confident Britain’s economy and their own companies will continue to grow over the next year, 76 percent are mulling some form of relocation."

“CEOs are reacting to the prevailing uncertainty with contingency planning,” KPMG U.K. Chairman Simon Collins said in the statement. “Over half believe the UK’s ability to do business will be disrupted once we Brexit and therefore, for many CEOs, it is important that they plan different scenarios to hedge against future disruption.”

The survey suggests Prime Minister Theresa May has work to do to retain businesses and jobs as the UK seeks a deal with the EU that curbs immigration while retaining the closest trading ties possible with the bloc’s 27 other members. Before the referendum, then-Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said a vote to leave would endanger as many as 820,000 jobs. [...]

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