Ready for Brexit?

United Kingdom
05/12/2018
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As MPs debate the government’s Brexit deal, a new report from CMS takes a look at the prospect of a No Deal Brexit and how UK businesses can prepare for it.

The UK and the EU have negotiated a Brexit deal – but will parliament accept it, throw it out or try to change it? Will there be another referendum? And what will the final relationship between the UK and the EU look like?

As Theresa May told the House of Commons: “The choice is clear: we can choose to leave with no deal; we can risk no Brexit at all; or we can choose to unite and support the best deal that can be negotiated – this deal.” But it is the Commons that now poses the greatest threat to the deal. If MPs accept it and do not seek to derail Brexit legislation, we might – by about February – be able to say that the odds of a No Deal Brexit are low. At the moment, though, No Deal is a possibility for which every business should be engaged in contingency planning.

Many businesses think No Brexit is actually the least risky of Mrs May’s three choices. But the path to it is uncertain and might involve another referendum. And while some business leaders support that, others are backing the deal, even though it offers no certainty past the end of the transition period. The important thing for them is that it avoids the chaos of No Deal.

Our report looks at the prospect of No Deal and how businesses may be able to prepare for it, as well as the risk of disruption to non-EU trade. It also assesses how far businesses have already prepared for Brexit, and reviews the key steps that companies in various sectors are taking.

Click here to visit our Ready for Brexit? webpage and download the report.

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