LONDON—Inside many British boardrooms, Brexit fatigue just got worse.
Jason Douglas, Wall Street Journal interviews Naeem Arif
U.K. lawmakers voted Saturday to postpone a final vote on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s deal to split with the European Union. The move delays any decision by parliament over the pact and forced Mr. Johnson to ask for another Brexit delay.
That would be the third postponement from an original late March divorce date. It extends yet again a three-year-plus period of deep uncertainty for British and European businesses, particularly those that import and export goods across the English Channel. Mr. Johnson is very likely to face a general election in coming months, too, exacerbating political uncertainty over how, when and whether Brexit happens.
Naeem Arif, who is a director at Stechford Carpets Ltd., a carpet business in Birmingham, England, said at this time of the year he would usually be hiring more carpet fitters and extending his store’s opening hours to take advantage of the extra demand in the run-up to Christmas. But the “golden quarter” in retail that usually runs October to December has so far failed to materialize.
“We are definitely seeing a slowdown,” he said. A fall in the pound, down 13% against the dollar since the 2016 referendum, has pushed up costs, he said.
“Following such a long period of uncertainty, it is difficult for business owners to make decisions with so much uncertainty. The lack of clarity is crippling the nation, we are not sure what to expect and along side a difficult time in retail it is making it very difficult to know what to do. You either take a risk or play the percentages and I for one am thinking carefully about every decision we make. Investment and overspending is not something I am thinking about doing until we have clarity over the Brexit situation”.
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