Depending on your point of view, news about the UK’s departure from the EU may represent a potential problem, a golden opportunity or a source of bemusement. But what does it mean for organisational resilience and business continuity?
Resilience has provided a unique selling point for many UK-based entities, beginning with marine insurance some 300 years ago. This is not about to change and as a nation we continue to lead and innovate, driven by our progressive risk management institutions and industries. Resilience is ingrained in how we think and act and consequently, strongly flavours our response to Brexit.
If you’re reading this from within the EU, you probably wonder what the UK was thinking. Bizarrely, almost all trading organisations in the UK are Europhiles and greatly value membership. However, the impact of EU social and cultural change was not enjoyed by the popular majority, triggering Brexit. C’est la vie.
Of course, this means that almost all UK business wants to trade with the EU and possibly vice-versa, but now face some level of restriction after the two-year exit period. Unless we are able to arrange viable alternative channels, the sharing of resilience ideas, advantages and systems risks being much reduced.
If you represent a non-EU organisation that relies on the UK, you probably won't be directly affected by Brexit, but you will want assurances regarding quality, reliability and permanence of supply. My advice is to re-apply due diligence checks and then seek to improve your position. What do I mean by this? Buying from the UK will become operationally advantageous, because we will by necessity become more responsive outside the EU bureaucratic framework.
In the short term, the cost of Sterling may also fall, relative to the Euro, making us financially more competitive. We will be less constrained in what we produce, and better able to meet country requirements without incurring costs sometimes imposed by inapplicable EU rules.
Looking further ahead, deregulation may even offer the possibility of the UK becoming a regional trade hub, similar to Dubai or Hong Kong, with geographic advantage, low costs, competitive taxation and fewer restrictions.
If you are a UK-based organisation, you probably already embrace resilience, driven by insurers, customers and stakeholders to ensure their interests are properly protected. If you don’t, then you probably should.
The fact is that the UK will be trading globally, no longer sheltered by the EU umbrella, and we need to seize every advantage to ensure continued growth and success. Resilience is one such advantage and there are powerful reasons why UK organisations need to embrace it now:
Is the UK’s threat profile worsened as a result of Brexit? I doubt it. Nationally, we are already better-positioned to defend our borders than many countries within the EU, although we may have short-term key supply agreements that need to be re-sourced or re-negotiated. Locally, I believe few organisations’ direct threat profiles will be substantially altered by Brexit, other than via the effects identified above.
The overwhelming sense of this blog is positivity, not just for the UK, but for all parties. I view Brexit as a mostly socio-political decision with trade effects arising from the necessary application of EU club rules. I remain optimistic that ultimately, these will be interpreted for the benefit of all. Time will tell.
In the meantime, the need for national and organisational resilience grows, demanding ever-greater reliability, certainty, confidence, and I believe our deep expertise offers a powerful advantage.