Two-year Brexit transition is guaranteed, Theresa May tells business chiefs

Prime Minister Theresa May informed business leaders that they must treat a two-year transition period after Brexit as guaranteed as she aims to ease company issues that Britain could crash from the EU without a deal, a source told Reuters.

May met company chiefs from GlaxoSmithKline, Vodafone and HSBC and other major companies on Monday to hear what they desire from talks on Britain’s relationship with the EU following Brexit.

Businesses have ended up being progressively alarmed by the slow development of negotiations and the prospect that the country could leave the trading bloc without a new trading plan in place in 2019.

“From her viewpoint, the transitional agreement is non-negotiable … business should think of the two-year duration as ensured. It will take place,” the source said when asked what May had stated during conversations on Monday.

A spokesperson from May’s workplace stated she reiterated her position “that the government’s goal is for a smooth, orderly exit where there is only one set of modifications for companies and people”.

Nearly all business leaders expressed concern about access to skill after Brexit and a number of them informed May that the investment cycle means there are decisions coming at the end of this year and the start of 2018, the source stated.

Recently, two sources informed Reuters that Toyota intended to develop the next version of its Auris car at its British auto plant on the assumption that the government secures a transitional Brexit deal in a decision due by the completion of the year.