London, 29 March 2016 – A poll out today by ICSA: The Governance Institute and The Core Partnership reveals that only 41% of UK boards have considered the result of the referendum on the UK exit of the European Union and the effects that this might have on their organisation. A surprising 47% have not considered it at all.
Company secretarial recruitment specialist The Core Partnership polls the views of its constituency, which has privileged insight into the boardroom, with regular monthly surveys in conjunction with ICSA. This latest poll about Brexit found the following:
- Over half of the respondents confirmed that their organisation has no planned contingencies or strategy to deal with an exit
- Respondents were split over the effect Brexit would have with responses ranging from no impact, negative, little effect, unknown to ‘PANIC’
- Opinion was divided as to whether or not EU regulation is out of sync with the UK’s business needs, but there is a general feeling that some of the blame lies with the UK for ‘gold plating’ EU regulation. SMEs seem to feel burdened by EU red tape the most.
“Whilst not all organisations operate within Europe, it is surprising that boards are not at least considering the knock-on effect that an exit could have on the underlying economy. If sterling goes into freefall this will have an impact regardless of whether or not they have import or export agreements with Europe,” says Simon Osborne, Chief Executive of ICSA. “Boards really need to be thinking about some of the potential implications like staff supply, grants, access to markets and regulatory arbitrage now, whatever the sector. We will be covering the issue of Brexit in some detail in our next Boardroom Bellwether survey which is due to be published on 23 May, just one month before the referendum.”
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For further information, please contact Maria Brookes, Media Relations Manager:
mbrookes@icsa.org.uk
+44 (0)20 7612 7072
+44 (0)7890 649 143
Notes to Editors:
- ICSA: The Governance Institute is the professional body for governance. We have members in all sectors and are required by our Royal Charter to lead ‘effective governance and efficient administration of commerce, industry and public affairs’. With 125 years’ experience, we work with regulators and policy makers to champion high standards of governance and provide qualifications, training and guidance.
Website: www.icsa.org.uk - The Core Partnership is a niche market recruitment consultancy working with Company Secretaries and their teams to advise on and resource their specialist interim and permanent manpower needs. With relevant professional backgrounds spanning back to the 1980s, The Core Partnership has a wealth of knowledge of the development and dimensions of the role of the Company Secretary. The team provides market advice on relevant qualifications and experience, conducts salary and benchmarking exercises and works throughout the UK and overseas recruiting at all levels to this specific discipline.
Website: www.core-partnership.co.uk - More detail about the poll findings can be found at https://www.icsa.org.uk/knowledge/governance-and-compliance/comment/quick-question
