Skip to main content

Britain ‘may be out of Europe but it's not out of business’ says FTA

Following the UK vote to leave the European Union, with votes of 52 per cent for Leave and 48 per cent for Remain, Patrick Flaherty, chief executive – UK & Ireland, AECOM, said the country faces a period of change and uncertainty and business must play a stabilising role. “A positive, long-term focus on the future is required despite a referendum result that we and many businesses did not want,” he commented. The Freight Transport Association (FTA) says coming out of union risks new costs, restrictions a
June 24, 2016 Read time: 3 mins
Following the UK vote to leave the European Union, with votes of 52 per cent for Leave and 48 per cent for Remain, Patrick Flaherty, chief executive – UK & Ireland, AECOM, said the country faces a period of change and uncertainty and business must play a stabilising role. “A positive, long-term focus on the future is required despite a referendum result that we and many businesses did not want,” he commented.

The 6983 Freight Transport Association (FTA) says coming out of union risks new costs, restrictions and bureaucratic requirements being imposed on moving goods in and out of Europe and is calling on the Government to prioritise arrangements for international freight transport in its negotiations, minimising additional legislation and keeping costs as low as possible for British businesses.
 
Flaherty pointed out that no nation has ever left the EU, so the long-term impact cannot be accurately forecast at this time. These are unchartered waters made even more uncertain by the Prime Minister’s announced resignation and the leadership election that will follow. Business must support government as it leads the country through this period of change.
 
“Business inevitably now faces a period of disruption. At AECOM, we have demonstrated our ability to grow while dealing with change and we will work hard to minimise the impact on our UK operations. As a global company, we serve clients all over the world from our offices in the UK. Our strong team, diversification strategy and international outlook equip us with long-term resilience but we are well aware that many businesses are not so fortunate.
 
“It is critical that the domestic agenda is not sidelined as the UK faces a minimum of two years of negotiations to leave the EU. Focus must remain on energy security and energy independence, as well as progressing the UK’s ambitious infrastructure pipeline. Schemes such as HS2, Crossrail 2 and the Northern Powerhouse programme are vital to the country’s ability to compete on a global stage, which is more crucial than ever due to this referendum result.”
 
FTA chief executive David Wells said: “Even though we are coming out of Europe politically, it remains our biggest export market and the supplier of a high proportion of our imports. We cannot allow new bureaucratic burdens to hamper the efficient movement of exports heading for customers and imported goods destined for British consumers."
 
"Britain may be out of Europe but it's not out of business and FTA will be leading the campaign on behalf of exporters and importers to keep trade procedures simple and the costs of international transport down.”

Related Content

  • March 17, 2017
    Europe’s road safety gains have stagnated EU
    Europe will fail to meet its road death targets as enforcement budgets are slashed and drivers face an epidemic of distractions. The European Union will not achieve its aim of halving the number of people killed on its roads each year by 2020, delegates to Tispol’s (the organisation of European traffic police) annual conference in Manchester were told. “The target will be missed because there was only a 17% decrease in road fatalities across Europe between 2010 and 2015 when [the rate of reduction] should h
  • June 7, 2012
    Transport problems need ''strong action from policymakers”
    Taking advantage of the attendance of the heads of ITS Asia-Pacific, ITS America, Ertico – ITS Europe, and ITS Malaysia as the host nation of the recent 12th ITS Asia-Pacific Forum in Kuala Lumpur in April, ITS International initiated a round table discussion on the big ITS issues confronting the individual regions. For such a diverse collection of advanced and emerging nations spanning the globe, in terms of the advancement of ITS, a common single issue emerges above all others
  • February 28, 2017
    London ‘needs next generation of infrastructure to compete’
    Improving the capital’s infrastructure, through Crossrail 2, a new runway at Heathrow and East London river crossings, is key to the city’s future success and ability to compete, according to the latest CBI/CBRE London Business Survey. More than eight in ten of London’s companies see Crossrail 2 as being central to the capital’s successful expansion. Meanwhile, a similar number of firms think sticking to the Government’s current timetables for building Heathrow’s third runway is vital to London’s attractive
  • February 2, 2012
    Is Europe's Galileo project value for money?
    Philippe Hamet discusses the progress of the European Union's Galileo Global Navigation Satellite System Project