British Businesses Are Evenly Split Over Brexit Vote
Small businesses are split down the middle over whether Britain should vote to leave the European Union, a new poll has claimed.
According to research consultancy TNS, 38 percent of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) say they want to remain part of the single European market. By contrast, 37 percent of small business owners say they plan to vote for a so-called “Brexit” when the country hits the polls on June 23.
That being said, 68 percent of those surveyed said they expect Britain to remain in the E.U., citing public fears over economic stability.
Along with free trade and economic stability, those in favor of remaining with Brussels also told researchers that cheap holidays and cheap wine had also influenced their decision.
Those keen on ditching Europe cited border controls and immigration as their top reason for siding with the Vote Leave campaign.
When quizzed over who they were looking to for guidance, most small business owners in favor of a Brexit said former Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Ukip leader Nigel Farage. By contrast, pro-European businesses listed athlete David Beckham and Prime Minister David Cameron as top campaigners.
“While some SME owners are backing Brexit, the high proportion of those predicting that the UK will remain in the EU shows that fear of the unknown is likely to be a deciding factor,” said Amy Cashman, the managing director of financial services and technology for TNS. “The reasons given by SME owners for voting, on both sides of the debate, show that the Brexit debate is influenced by passions and personal preferences.”
That being said, it’s worth pointing out that support for remaining in the E.U. has faltered in recent months.
In September, the Federal of Small Businesses conducted an even larger poll in which 47 percent of small business owners said they wanted to remain. Around 41 percent had said they wanted to leave the single market, while 11 percent claimed they were undecided.
Support for the E.U. was strongest in Scotland, where 60 percent of small business owners said they would vote to remain. In England, firms were evenly divided on the issue.
According to Graeme Donnelly, the CEO and founder of the British company formation group 1st Formations, that division stems from a lack of clarity on both sides of the issue.
“I think the biggest concern small business owners have in the run up to this referendum is a lack of information,” he said. “There are still quite a few questions that haven’t been answered, and I think a lot of smaller businesses are feeling a bit disenfranchised by this whole debate.”
Yet, according to a recent survey conducted by the British Chambers of Commerce, big businesses and corporations are “significantly more likely” to support remaining with Brussels.
Either way, acting director general Adam Marshall has said that companies on both sides of the debate are eager to put the issue to bed as soon as possible.
“As the EU referendum campaign enters the final straight, the race for the business vote has clearly tightened,” he said. “While only a minority of business people report that the referendum campaign has had a material impact on their firms to date, much larger numbers say they expect significant impacts in the aftermath of the vote.”
[Photo by illustration by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images]
