The UK will exit the European Union on March 29, 2019, and many companies are struggling to prepare for how it will change doing business there. Only a minority of firms is well ahead in planning and preparing a UK market strategy. At the recent Brexit Workshop we held for clients — in this case, 19 UK heads of some of the world’s largest multinational firms — 10 of them had not started or had only just begun planning for Brexit.
The UK will exit the European Union on March 29, 2019, and companies are struggling to prepare for how it will change doing business there. Many are falling into serious planning traps: (1) They’re taking a wait-and-see mode until they feel confident they have enough information to prepare their business for the post-Brexit environment; (2) they’re setting targets using historical data that may be irrelevant; and/or (3) their plans are failing to take into account the Brexit spillover effects (for example, on currencies, regulations, and cost increases) that will impact different parts of their businesses. When it comes to planning, multinational companies shouldn’t apply quick fixes to mitigate short-term operational risks. Companies need a working group that regularly assesses the Brexit impacts relative to competition and a strategic plan for their UK business that is straightforward, flexible, and easy to track.