UK firms step up 'no-deal' Brexit preparations
The Bank of England says firms have ratcheted up preparations for a "no-deal" Brexit over the past couple of months.
The minutes of the bank's latest policy meeting show that a special survey indicates that around 80 percent of companies "judged themselves ready" for a disorderly Brexit in which the country crashes out of the European Union with no deal and with no transition to new trading arrangements with the EU. That's up from around 50 percent in an equivalent survey conducted in January.
However, many of those companies also reported that "there were limits to the degree of readiness that was feasible in the face of the range of possible outcomes in that scenario."
As things stand, Britain is heading for a "no-deal" Brexit on March 29 if Prime Minister Theresa May fails to win parliamentary support for her withdrawal agreement with the EU. That would see the return of tariffs and border checks.
