Continue reading
UK businesses at most gloomy since referendum
The outlook for UK businesses has never been gloomier since the 2016 referendum, with more than half of finance bosses expecting to rein in recruitment and spending, according to Deloitte.
The accountancy firm’s latest quarterly survey of chief financial officers (CFOs) found eight out of 10 respondents expect the long-term business environment to be worse as a result of the UK leaving the EU (if it ever happens).
In a telling indictment of the state of affairs, only 13% of respondents were more optimistic about the prospects for their company than they were three months ago.
The first quarter survey gauges sentiment among the UK’s largest businesses in the wake of parliament’s successive rejections of Theresa May’s Brexit deal. Deloitte interviewed 89 CFOs, including 48 representing FTSE 100 companies.