Don't be Uncertain. Be Assured!

The pollsters were completely uncertain in the lead-up to the referendum as to which way the axe would fall and with a final vote of 52% to Leave and 48% to Remain, it’s hardly difficult to see why. A majority it may be, but by no means an overwhelming one. The topics of uncertainty have flip-flopped from immigration, trade, the effect on the Pound and most recently the seemingly, at time of writing, last sticking point; the Irish border. All have been debated by both sides of the chamber and on both sides of the argument, to no avail. The only thing that is certain is continued uncertainty.

We in the UK, be we a man or woman in the street, business owners and members of the community, cannot even take solace that this will be the end. When we leave the EU on (insert date) it won’t even be the end. It’s not even the beginning of the end (though some may disagree with that). No, it will only be the beginning of the beginning. We may, deal agreed, have bashed out some of the ‘definitely will’s and ‘definitely will not’s by the time we leave, but the fact is we will still have years of uncertainty about the smaller things. When I say smaller things I mean, of course, small compared to issues on the world stage, but of huge importance to small businesses. And small businesses form some of the backbone of the country.

It is indicative of our uncertainty that we concern ourselves about how we will stock the products we retail before we even consider the price implications. Further to this, we consider the economy and how we will pay ourselves and our staff before we even consider that new rules on immigration may drastically reduce staff...read more