Leeds Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is pictured with Councillors Shabir Pandor, Denise Jeffery, Judith Blake, Tim Swift, Susan Hinchcliffe, and Simon Clarke MP following the signing of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority devolution,
British industry welcomed the U.K’s 30 billion-pound ($39 billion) stimulus package to fight the impact of the coronavirus, but warned more needs to be done to help firms prepare for life outside the European Union.
"The necessary focus on coronavirus doesn’t mean other challenges have gone away,” said Jonathan Geldart, director general of the Institute of Directors, whose 30,000 members are drawn from U.K. boardrooms. "The costs of Brexit adjustment are still very real, but measures to help firms with the difficult task of preparing were notable by their absence.”
Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s first budget included a swathe of measures to help companies affected by the virus, including refunding the costs of sick pay to small firms and relief from business rates. However, the U.K. finance minister barely mentioned Britain’s final split from the EU at the year-end, a major upheaval for business.
"The budget has addressed the immediate challenges facing the economy,” said Adam Marshall, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce. "But the chancellor will have to do more to support businesses as they navigate changes to trading arrangements and the end of the Brexit transition period.”
With Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisting the U.K. will leave the EU’s single market and customs union, companies automatically face extra paperwork and red tape from Jan 1. 2021. If the two sides fail to strike a trade agreement by the year-end, firms also face the threat of tariffs and quotas.
Earlier, Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove ruled out any extension to the deadline for a trade deal even as the coronavirus puts the next round of talks in doubt.
Coronavirus Outbreak Puts Brexit Negotiations in Jeopardy
