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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/30/our-patience-is-wearing-thin-commerce-needs-clarity-on-rexit
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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Our patience is wearing thin. Commerce needs clarity on Brexit | Our patience is wearing thin. Commerce needs clarity on Brexit |
| (30 days later) | |
| A business leader calls for focus in the EU negotiations and incentives to make 2018 a boom year | A business leader calls for focus in the EU negotiations and incentives to make 2018 a boom year |
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| Sat 30 Dec 2017 22.00 GMT | Sat 30 Dec 2017 22.00 GMT |
| Last modified on Wed 14 Feb 2018 15.28 GMT | |
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| As we enter 2018, the UK has some enduring business bright spots. Yet despite the optimism that drives many of our best firms, we start the new year with below-par economic growth, stubborn inflation, low rates of investment and far too few potential recruits for the many jobs on offer. | As we enter 2018, the UK has some enduring business bright spots. Yet despite the optimism that drives many of our best firms, we start the new year with below-par economic growth, stubborn inflation, low rates of investment and far too few potential recruits for the many jobs on offer. |
| Some very big decisions lie ahead. Getting the twin challenges of Brexit and the economic fundamentals right will require leadership, consistency and clarity – after a year in which business has been dismayed by what it sees as division and disorganisation across Westminster. | Some very big decisions lie ahead. Getting the twin challenges of Brexit and the economic fundamentals right will require leadership, consistency and clarity – after a year in which business has been dismayed by what it sees as division and disorganisation across Westminster. |
| Yet if our leaders make the right decisions they will turbo-charge business confidence and open the door to risk-taking, investment and export growth. Get those decisions wrong or, even worse, duck them entirely and we will ring in 2019 wondering why we are performing well below our potential at a crucial time. | Yet if our leaders make the right decisions they will turbo-charge business confidence and open the door to risk-taking, investment and export growth. Get those decisions wrong or, even worse, duck them entirely and we will ring in 2019 wondering why we are performing well below our potential at a crucial time. |
| Unleashing the animal spirits of British business in 2018 requires clarity on Brexit, an ambitious and visible domestic growth strategy and consistent, coherent leadership, with a focus on the national interest, not the electoral interest. | Unleashing the animal spirits of British business in 2018 requires clarity on Brexit, an ambitious and visible domestic growth strategy and consistent, coherent leadership, with a focus on the national interest, not the electoral interest. |
| Businesses have been very patient in waiting for clarity on Brexit in the 18 months since the referendum. That patience is now wearing thin. Businesses want answers, they want clarity and they want results. | Businesses have been very patient in waiting for clarity on Brexit in the 18 months since the referendum. That patience is now wearing thin. Businesses want answers, they want clarity and they want results. |
| Chambers of Commerce members – as well as their EU trading partners – want a swift “standstill” transition agreement as soon as possible in 2018. This would give certainty on short-term trading conditions and ensure that businesses face only one set of adjustment costs when the final UK-EU settlement kicks in. The transition must be agreed quickly; a failure to do so would see contingency plans activated, investment flows delayed and a battening down of the hatches in far too many of our firms. | Chambers of Commerce members – as well as their EU trading partners – want a swift “standstill” transition agreement as soon as possible in 2018. This would give certainty on short-term trading conditions and ensure that businesses face only one set of adjustment costs when the final UK-EU settlement kicks in. The transition must be agreed quickly; a failure to do so would see contingency plans activated, investment flows delayed and a battening down of the hatches in far too many of our firms. |
| In 2018, businesses also want clarity on the future terms of UK-EU trade and decisive action to secure the benefits of the trade agreements the UK has been part of as a member of the EU. Clear answers on regulation, standards, customs, tariffs and more must be found. Businesses don’t want to hear about “Canada plus plus plus” or “Norway minus”: they want results, not descriptions of the bureaucratic process. | In 2018, businesses also want clarity on the future terms of UK-EU trade and decisive action to secure the benefits of the trade agreements the UK has been part of as a member of the EU. Clear answers on regulation, standards, customs, tariffs and more must be found. Businesses don’t want to hear about “Canada plus plus plus” or “Norway minus”: they want results, not descriptions of the bureaucratic process. |
| Yet Brexit is not the only priority for the business community. For many firms, a clear and comprehensive agenda to support growth at home matters just as much – if not more. | Yet Brexit is not the only priority for the business community. For many firms, a clear and comprehensive agenda to support growth at home matters just as much – if not more. |
| Next year, Britain must build a far more comprehensive economic plan, backed up by radical budgets and sustained investment. | Next year, Britain must build a far more comprehensive economic plan, backed up by radical budgets and sustained investment. |
| Westminster and Whitehall must realise that the best possible Brexit deal will be worthless if future conditions for growth aren’t right here at home. | Westminster and Whitehall must realise that the best possible Brexit deal will be worthless if future conditions for growth aren’t right here at home. |
| A speedy boost to productivity could be achieved if ministers, regulators and suppliers joined forces to ensure fast broadband reaches the businesses that need it, that housebuilding targets are met and mobile phone signals improved. High-speed broadband often stops a mile from key business centres; firms can’t hire staff because there is not enough of the right sort of housing and employees on the move find themselves losing time and work due to mobile “not-spots”. | A speedy boost to productivity could be achieved if ministers, regulators and suppliers joined forces to ensure fast broadband reaches the businesses that need it, that housebuilding targets are met and mobile phone signals improved. High-speed broadband often stops a mile from key business centres; firms can’t hire staff because there is not enough of the right sort of housing and employees on the move find themselves losing time and work due to mobile “not-spots”. |
| Speeding up often-announced, often-delayed infrastructure projects would give a real boost to 2018. Work must continue on HS2, and progress at Heathrow, but long-promised local road and rail improvements must also materialise. | Speeding up often-announced, often-delayed infrastructure projects would give a real boost to 2018. Work must continue on HS2, and progress at Heathrow, but long-promised local road and rail improvements must also materialise. |
| Yet the biggest potential brake on business growth in 2018 will be the lack of available skilled workers. Ministers must stabilise the apprenticeship and training system and recognise that simpler, less costly immigration rules are needed so that firms can get the people they need to grow. | Yet the biggest potential brake on business growth in 2018 will be the lack of available skilled workers. Ministers must stabilise the apprenticeship and training system and recognise that simpler, less costly immigration rules are needed so that firms can get the people they need to grow. |
| These are the basic issues that most firms care about. The fundamentals matter: the UK will not hold on to Forbes’s recent “best place to do business” accolade in the future if poor infrastructure, sclerotic labour markets and high costs hold our economy back. | These are the basic issues that most firms care about. The fundamentals matter: the UK will not hold on to Forbes’s recent “best place to do business” accolade in the future if poor infrastructure, sclerotic labour markets and high costs hold our economy back. |
| The government needs to pull out all the stops and demonstrate that it has a radical and comprehensive programme to ensure that we are ready to compete in the post-Brexit world. | The government needs to pull out all the stops and demonstrate that it has a radical and comprehensive programme to ensure that we are ready to compete in the post-Brexit world. |
| In this most pivotal of years, our leaders must be radical and do everything in their power to nurture entrepreneurial energy and confidence across Britain. I have every confidence that businesses, large and small, would repay such leadership many times over. | In this most pivotal of years, our leaders must be radical and do everything in their power to nurture entrepreneurial energy and confidence across Britain. I have every confidence that businesses, large and small, would repay such leadership many times over. |
| Adam Marshall is director general of the British Chambers of Commerce | Adam Marshall is director general of the British Chambers of Commerce |
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