As Britain’s financial markets remain volatile in the wake of last week’s Brexit vote, members of Richmond’s business community shared their thoughts and concerns as the nation gears up for life away from the EU.
Richmond’s voters demonstrated a desire to stay in the union, with 75,396 backing Remain and 33,410 voting to leave, compared with 51.9 per cent of the UK who wanted to withdraw.
Read more: Richmond's politicians have their say over EU exit
Vince Cable: "EU has no choice but to be tough on Britain"
The value of the pound plummeted in the immediate aftermath of the result and the FTSE 100 plunged eight per cent on Friday before recovering to close with a 3.2 per cent fall.
Cult Wines managing director Tom Gearing with former RTT reporter Amy Dyduch
Tom Gearing, managing director of Ham-based fine wines investment company, Cult Wines, said exiting the EU will have huge implications for his business and he may be forced to consider relocating its warehousing to the continent.
Mr Gearing said: “For a business like mine which imports and exports huge volumes of wine in and out of the EU every year, this has huge implications in the short term from a financial perspective - as the cost of importing will certainly go up - and in the longer term the impact on sales due to more prohibitive taxes, costs increasing and desirability of trading with a UK company.
“Further to this I currently employ three skilled workers from the EU, whose right to work here will now be under threat.”
Mr Gearing said his main concerns were losing skilled EU workers, the short-term financial implications that come with the devaluation of sterling, along with future tariffs, regulations and taxes that may be introduced.
He added: “We would consider relocating our warehousing to Europe in order to ease up trading and retain the free movement of goods.
“It will be anything but smooth over the next two years.”
Kate Winskill and Sian Dobson of 1of1 Design
Creative director of Teddington fashion and jewellery retailer 1of1 Design, Kate Winskill, said she was very disappointed Britain voted to leave the EU, and that she expects the price of the textiles the business imports from Italy to increase.
Ms Winskill said: “I think the uncertainty will make people think twice about spending on non-essentials so it may affect sales.”
Petra Sale, of family owned florist in Station Road, Hampton, said all of the shop’s flowers are imported from Holland but she remains positive about the effect Brexit will have on the future of the business.
She said: “We have spoken to our suppliers the whole way through this and they have said the same thing again and again, that the worst thing that will happen is one or two pennies more on the stem.
“The UK is the second or third biggest importer of flowers from the Dutch so I really don’t think they are going to stop trading with us or will make it more difficult.
“Our suppliers were actually saying we were very lucky to have a referendum because in Holland they have been crying out for one.”
Richmond Chamber of Commerce chief executive Anne Newton
Chief executive of Richmond’s Chamber of Commerce, Anne Newton, said business owners will have to build a workable strategy as the “new world order” unfolds.
She said: “The backdrop of uncertainty both politically and financially in the City, along with 'the unknown' response from our EU and international trading partners, is what all local business voters, both for and against, will be observing extremely closely over the coming days and months.
“We will continue to consult with our businesses to establish their responses and support and represent them as necessary.”
Partner at Richmond’s Rowberry Morris Solicitors, Peter Reynolds, said: “This is a time of real uncertainty both for people and businesses in Richmond and it will undoubtedly cause both hardship and opportunity."
He added: “We are as a firm a bit concerned but then I think everyone is.
“Different parts of the firm will be affected in different ways, for example I imagine employment law will have a lot to do because of changes and redundancies, but then some areas less so.
“We don’t know how serious it is and like everyone else we are just waiting to see how it unfolds.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel