Accountancy and legal association, UK200Group, has asked the official EU Remain and Leave campaigns how the outcome of the referendum will affect the UK’s business growth.
The questions were put forward as part of the group’s ‘Campaign for Clarity’ in order to define how leaving or remaining in the EU would affect the small business community.
Surveys by UK200Group showed that business growth was the number one issue for SMEs. The group asked both campaigns: “What impact will the decision to leave or stay have on the growth prospects of SMEs? How would it affect investment going forward?”
The Remain campaign said: “If we leave the EU, our home market will shrink from 500 million to 65m consumers and we won’t have a say over the rules of doing business across Europe, leaving all the power in the hands of our European competitors. The uncertainty while any new deal is negotiated will hit our economy hard – costing jobs, driving up prices and making it harder to fund our public services.”
The Leave campaign said: “After we Vote Leave, the UK would improve upon the trade agreements that the EU has negotiated, which have generally proved of limited benefit to British companies.
“Outside the EU, we will be able to strike free trade agreements with emerging economies, such as Brazil, India and China. This is likely to reduce prices for consumers and be good for jobs, growth and investment.”
Renowned market commentator and co-founder and head of corporate development at Seven Investment Management, Justin Urquhart Stewart (pictured) said: “Whatever your views, the effect of this vote is fundamental to the successful functioning of the UK economy.
“There is one word that runs any economy – and that is confidence.
“We need confidence so that – consumers buy “stuff”, confidence so that companies invest in capacity and innovation and we need confidence so that overseas investors keep buying our debt to finance our deficit.”
The questions asked to the campaigns Britain Stronger in Europe and Vote Leave were all sourced from UK200Group’s members and their clients.