Emergency Brexit summit held to discuss ways of coping with leaving EU without a deal
Senior figures within the construction sector have come together to start making plans on how to handle a no-deal Brexit should the UK leave the EU in March without a deal.
More than 100 industry leaders gathered at an emergency Brexit summit convened by the Construction Leadership Council yesterday (28 January) to develop sector contingency plans for a no-deal Brexit.
Those attending the event at the ICE’s central London headquarters included CLC member Mark Reynolds, the chief executive of Mace, as well the boss of Skanska’s UK arm Greg Craig along with Vinci UK’s chief Bruno Dupety, Alinea partner Mark Lacey and Derwent London’s head of development Richard Baldwin.
Andy Mitchell, CLC chairman, said: “While a no-deal Brexit remains a possibility, firms in the construction industry have a responsibility to their employees, clients and the firms in their supply chain to plan for this.
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“The potential impacts of a no-deal Brexit for the industry would be significant – and [the summit] marked the first steps in the industry acting together to mitigate these.”
The CLC said it would now be convening a group to address how the industry can recruit, retain and support foreign nationals within the UK construction workforce, and engage with the consultations on the government’s Future Skills Immigration White Paper.
It also will work with trade associations to understand the impact of changes to the rules on the import and export of goods within the supply chain, as well as working with the construction products sector to promote and share guidance on potential changes to the rules on demonstrating compliance.
The CLC also said it will communicate to government the cost and complexity of preparing for a no-deal Brexit and its potential impact on the sustainability and productivity of the industry.
It said it would be setting out its plans for follow up action shortly and would contact all participants and the wider industry about this event and the planned actions later this week.
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