Credit, Collections & Insolvency News
Following the Spring Budget announcement from Phillip Hammond, Markus Kuger, Senior Economist at Dun & Bradstreet has given his thoughts on what this means for UK Businesses and how they still need to be vigilant in light of Brexit.
“In the latest spring budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer Phillip Hammond has announced his vision to make the UK best country in the world to start a business. Hammond has announced a number of measures to alleviate the economic pressures facing businesses in the UK and implement business rates relief. Although the Chancellor has announced that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has lowered its borrowing predictions, businesses must not get complacent. They need to prepare for the long-term challenges that the UK is still to face, such as the impact of Brexit, with Article 50 likely to be invoked later this month. With levels of uncertainty remaining very high, we at Dun & Bradstreet maintain the UK’s deteriorating outlook for its country risk rating. Companies need to remember that it’s crucial to carefully assess growth opportunities, while preparing for the far-reaching negative implications of Brexit.
“Despite the UK economy displaying an initial resilience as mentioned in the budget, it remains to be seen whether Brexit will be positive for the finances of UK-based companies. There is no doubt that Brexit will continue to throw-up roadblocks that will have to be overcome by all global organisations. The true financial landscape will not be clear until 2019 at the earliest and so businesses must ignore news headlines expressing that the UK economy has grown, because it continues to be on a short-term basis. In times of uncertainty business leaders must find a smart approach that unlocks potential growth, and should call on a merge of traditional and non-traditional data in the digitally-driven world. Traditional data offers the necessary background information on businesses, while non-traditional data can show real-time political, societal and economic impacts. In the meantime, businesses that turn to a data-led approach will be the ones that continue to find growth and prosper in times of unpredictable, economic fluctuations.”