How the British tech scene reacted to the big Brexit news

Steven Loeb · June 24, 2016 · Short URL: https://vator.tv/n/4636

England pulling out of the EU could have a big impact on British businesses and investing

Last night the unthinkable happened, as, thanks to what can best be described as a political stunt by UK Prime Minister David Cameron, the country decided to leave the European Union. Brexit actually happened.

Things soon went nuts, as the Pound dropped to its lowest level since the 80s, markets around the world started to take big hits and Cameron himself immediately resigned (well, actually he's staying on for three months, but he is still eventually stepping down).

The short-term effect of this is already being felt; what this looks like in the long-term is potentially an even scarier prospect, as the fate of the entire European Union, and the global economy, will likely be impacted by this. The impact on businesses in the U.K. could also be enormous, putting at risk partnerships with other member countries.

PrivCo, a provider of business and financial research on major privately-held companies, has already identified some British companies that it believes will be immediately impacted by the vote, including Greenergy International, an importer of crude petrol from outside the UK, due to the fact that it has a contracts with states outside of the EU.

"The UK collectively exports most of its refined petroleum to EU member countries. Even though Greenergy's refined products are primarily consumed domestically, the pressure on commodities prices inside the country and out would be felt almost immediately," said PrivCo.

One of the benefits of being in the EU was that Britain didn't have to pay import tariffs on goods coming in from other member countries. That, of course, will change as soon as it officially pulls out, affecting companies like Synter Group, an auto dealership chain located in the UK, which might be affected by a tariff placed on cars imported from EU member countries, which account for 90 percent of total car imports into the UK. 

Waitrose, a grocery and food distributor. that controls roughly 17 percent of the UK market, would also be affected by the tariffs, PrivCO pointed out. 

The tech scene reacts

In the run-up to the vote, I asked investors in England their thoughts on what would happen if the UK pulled out. The answer: it would be a disaster. So it's not surprise that, in the wake of what's happened, the reaction around the tech world in Europe was uniformily negative.

Here's how the the British tech scene reacted to the news on Twitter after the results came in:

(Image source: multiple-sclerosis-research.blogspot.com)

Image Description

Steven Loeb

All author posts

Support VatorNews by Donating

Read more from our "Trends and news" series

More episodes

Related News