British Businesses Are Fed Up With Brexit Delays

(Bloomberg) --

As Theresa May considers pushing back Britain’s departure from the European Union, companies face the prospect of further uncertainty and added costs.

Though preferable to leaving next month without a deal, a delay that gives more time for talks or even a second referendum is a further headache for businesses that have been preparing for a March 29 split.

“I would rather crash out at the end of March than crash out at the end of May,” said Ian Funnell, U.K. managing director of ABB Ltd, a Swiss manufacturer of industrial equipment, who said he wanted a deal above all else. “It would be extremely unhelpful for us if it went to the end of April or the end of May.”

Like companies across the country, ABB has been stockpiling materials, hiring staff to handle potential new customs checks and increasing working capital, measures coordinated around being ready for the end of March. Those plans would probably need re-adjusting if May moves to delay Brexit.

See how U.K. businesses are preparing for Brexit, deal or no deal

Britain’s major business lobby groups, including the Institute of Directors and Federation of Small Businesses, have been calling for a limited Brexit extension, to give May more time to negotiate an improved deal and to pass necessary Brexit-facilitating laws in Parliament.

Yet the longer the uncertainty drags on, the longer businesses suffer, said Andrew Whiting, chairman of Beech’s Fine Chocolates, which makes luxury confectionery at a factory in Preston, northern England.

“We’re still all just spinning our wheels,” said Whiting. He worries Brexit is holding back orders for his chocolates and fears added administrative expenses if he has to be ready for a different Brexit date. “There’s a cost to having two or three different strategies ready to be launched.”

A lengthy delay to Brexit could have a chilling effect on investment and hurt productivity, said Mark Ridgway, chief executive officer of Group Rhodes Limited, an industrial equipment maker in Wakefield, north England.

“Any postponement to 2020 or 2021 would be extremely dangerous for businesses such as ours,” said Ridgway. “Market confidence is falling rapidly.”

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