Perhaps the most contentious issue that surrounded the Brexit debate was the one of immigration. We depend on a significant number of skilled workers from the EU and curbing access for these could well have a significant impact on business in the UK.

Like most things in respect of Brexit, the road ahead isn’t particularly clear and we’re not entirely sure where the country is heading. How will this impact on our ability to trade with the EU? How will these changes affect UK businesses who want to hire from the EU and our own population who want to find employment across the Channel?

EU Workers and the Brexit Conundrum

There are some 400,000 EU workers employed in skilled jobs in the UK. Most of these come from the EU14 countries. The major portion of unskilled workers who are currently in the UK come from the EU10 countries such as Estonia and Hungary.

Skilled workers are found in all professions from the financial and services sector through to our health services and they contribute a great deal to our economy and are important to our potential success as a country. The uncertainty over Brexit has meant that many skilled EU employees in businesses and organisations across the UK are no longer sure they will have a job once negotiations are over in a couple of years’ time. This has been compounded since the vote by the inability of the Government to confirm that their status in this country is entirely safe.

The good news is that Chancellor Phillip Hammond broached the subject of skilled EU workers when he said in October:

“We understand their needs for market access. We also understand their needs to be able to engage the right skilled people. I have said on the record, and I’m happy to say again today, that I do not believe the concerns the British people have expressed about migration from the European Union relate to people with high skills and high pay.”

The situation hasn’t been helped by the delay in triggering Article 50 which has left businesses and employees in a state of limbo. A recent quote from an immigration minister that the Government were planning to introduce a £1,000 levy on all skilled EU workers caused unnecessary consternation in the media and politicians roundly criticised it as counterproductive and idiotic. But this does show the level of uncertainty that businesses and organisations face now and this sense of unease is not going to disappear anytime soon.

Retaining Top Talent During Brexit

Businesses face numerous challenges because of Brexit, particularly when employing skilled workers. Are EU employees likely to start looking around for jobs on home ground and leave the UK? Is it worthwhile employing skilled staff from countries such as France and Germany when we are not sure of their immigration future? Will top talent look elsewhere rather than applying to UK companies? And do UK businesses have the resources and the home grown skilled staff to fill vacant positions?

There have already been calls from the business sector for the Government to begin boosting schools and higher education to fulfil any potential skills shortfall that may come from stricter immigration policies. There’s no doubt that businesses will also need to work a lot harder to retain and attract top talent and workers with specialist skills that are vital to their operations. Not only that, there is going to be a significant amount of work that needs to be done in making sure current employees have the right documentation or visas to stay in the UK, if this is the route we are going to take.

The true impact is yet to be seen, of course. If we opt for a hard Brexit, there will need to be measures in place that protect the EU skilled workforce and enables business to source the best and the brightest from Europe. Failure to do this could cause a dearth of talent that will adversely affect the way UK businesses are able to thrive, compete and grow. Replacing EU skilled workers with home grown talent will take time and involve investing in our education system.

For most businesses, the ideal solution is simple and necessary. There needs to be a sensible immigration policy that not only makes the sourcing of a skilled workforce easy but also doesn’t put off top talent or encourage them to search elsewhere. The good news is that we are already doing this with other global partners. We have doctors and nurses, finance experts and engineers and digital experts from all over the world.

Finally, any negotiation also needs to take into account the 3.3 million UK nationals currently working and living in the EU. Creating a reciprocal arrangement that protects both sides is important and to the benefit of the UK and the EU. Whether that will come to pass, of course, remains to be seen. For the moment, businesses and organisations need to prepare as best they can.

For most businesses, energy savings and eco-friendly processes are not only vital for reducing your carbon footprint but can be ways of saving money at the same time. It doesn’t matter whether you are a large corporation or a small business, sustainability is the name of the game and it’s becoming increasingly important.

Fortunately, there are numerous ways for you to act right now and significantly lower your carbon footprint.

1. Switch to LED

One option that many businesses are going for is the switch to LED lighting. While these new bulbs and fluorescents cost more than filament or CFL varieties, they last up to five times longer and use far less electricity. An average 12W CFL bulb is the equivalent of a 6W LED bulb. On top of that LED reduces CO2 emissions and they can dramatically improve the light quality in your office.

2. Get Better Insulation

If you have an office in an old building, then it may be that you are losing heat through poor, ineffective insulation. This not only adds to the cost of your fuel bills but greatly increases your carbon footprint. Reviewing your office space and improving the insulation can mean you provide a healthier environment for your employees whilst cutting the amount you pay out to utility companies.

3. Overhaul Your Heating

Many businesses also have old or inefficient heating systems that can mean great cost savings if replaced. The current Government is committed to decarbonising the UK’s heating over the next couple of decades and there are subsidies for businesses through the Renewable Heat Incentive to introduce certain types of technology. These include biomass boilers and heat pumps which are considered low carbon solutions. The return on investment on these heating systems more than offsets the initial cost of changing your system and will also lower your carbon footprint by moving you away from heating that uses fossil fuels.

4. Develop Carbon Friendly Practices

Much can be achieved by small changes to the way your business operates and many of them are low cost solutions that simply require a change of viewpoint.

• Switching off the lights: If your business is leaving on lights or devices and draining power when no one is there, you’re not only boosting your carbon footprint but adding to your utility bills.
• Introduce smart meters and devices: Having a better idea of when and how you use your power means you can then do something about it. The latest smart meters can do just that and allow you to have a deeper level of control. If you have the budget, you can also introduce smart devices that switch off lights when offices are not in use.
• Use less paper: Switching to digital practices also means you end up printing out much less. Does a client really need a hard copy of a document or can you send it directly to his or her mobile device? The latest multi-function printers not only use less power, they can enable you to switch to more efficient ways of disseminating information.
• Associate with Green Suppliers: It’s not just your business that adds to your carbon footprint. Your suppliers and even your consumers can have an impact. If you depend on certain suppliers it might be a good time to check their own green credentials and make sure these align with your own.
• Skype don’t drive: We have more technology at our fingertips than ever before. Do you or your employees have to drive to that meeting or can it be conducted using video conferencing platforms? These are far more reliable nowadays and will save you money on fuel and lower your carbon emissions even further.

5. Recycling for Businesses

In the UK, businesses have a responsibility to recycle all their waste. Most do this but many aren’t aware of the waste management hierarchy. This encourages making the most of your waste, repurposing and reusing first before sending to recycling. This is important and taking a regular look at how much waste you produce and the processes you can introduce to reduce it is also vital in reducing your carbon footprint.

6. Swapping to Solar

If you have the money, as well as the space, you can switch to a different and sustainable energy source: Solar. A number of high profile businesses, including IKEA, have installed solar panels on their outlets in recent years. The return on investment for solar is still reasonably good despite the reduction in the Feed in Tariff last year. The research and development now being carried out on storage mechanisms for solar may also mean that businesses in the future can become fully self-sufficient when it comes to electricity production.

Budget doesn’t need to be a bar on lowering your carbon footprint. Simple changes to your operating practices can have a significant impact on your emissions. These are also a great marketing tool as many consumers are now looking to deal with and buy from businesses that have sustainability at their heart. It might just be time to review your processes and implement some changes that make a big difference.

Switch on the financial news at any given time and you are likely to hear the words FTSE 100. It’s a listing that originated back in 1984 and was originally co-owned by the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange. The FTSE is a list of the top 100 UK companies that are on the London Stock Exchange, ordered by their full market value.

You will find many well-known UK companies on the FTSE 100, including Sky, Sainsbury’s, BT and Barclays. These are generally referred to as blue chip companies and their position on the list changes in accordance with their performance.

In addition, there is the Index which is usually seen as a measure of how the UK is doing economically. The high point for the FTSE100 Index came at the beginning of this year when it reached 7,354. One of its lowest points came shortly after the market crash and slump during March 2009.

How is the FTSE100 Decided?

To make it a useful barometer, of course, the list has to be changed regularly to reflect performance. This is done every quarter when a committee of independent experts are brought together to judge that performance. Below the FTSE100 is the FTSE250 and changes between these two bands can happen quite regularly, particularly for those near the bottom of the list. The only other time when a review of the list might be considered is when there is a merger or takeover that changes the dynamics of a particular company.

Changes don’t always happen. It’s not unusual for the list to remain the same after a review has been carried out. During other times, there can be quite a lot of toing and froing, something that happened more recently during the rise and success of dot coms in the late 90s.

What it Means for Small Business

At first sight, the FTSE100 is seen as a barometer of the state of the country in terms of business and finance. Allied to this is the FTSE100 Index which is the single figure you see on the news and this rises and falls according to how well the economy is doing. You might see a lull before a budget for example and a complementary rise when future policy is clarified. There can also be a drop when there is a major event such as last year’s Brexit which creates uncertainty or even the election of a new president in the US. More interesting can be the difference between indices – when Trump was inaugurated, there was not a great rise in the FTSE100 but the Dow Jones Index breached an all-time high of 20,000.

The number is calculated by taking the market capitalisation of the top 100 businesses and their index value. The market capitalisation is affected by the share price of the company and the index is calculated 4 times every minute on the Stock Exchange. Because of this link to shares, changes in the index can have a significant impact on business and investments. For example, if you have a pension, a sudden fall in the FTSE can see a related fall in your own fund.

For small businesses, the FTSE100 is also an aspiration. It gives you the chance to see the top companies and take a deeper look at how and why they have been successful. It’s a chance to follow best practice and look at the latest trends in the UK economy. When the FTSE100 fell following the Brexit decision last year, it was an indication that we might well be in for turbulent times but the index has recovered since then. What had a little more importance at the time was the fall in the value of the pound, particularly for SMEs exporting to other countries.

Perhaps just as important to SMEs are the other bands of the FTSE, the 250 and 350, which can give a clearer overview of the economy and which businesses are beginning to create an impact. Few small business reach the stage when they can compete with the large corporations and their share values. Getting into the lower bands is the first step to this, however. Having your SME noted on the FTSE can improve share values and provide impetus for investment and growth.

Essentially, the FTSE100 is a fair-weather barometer for the state of the economy and as such is a useful guide for businesses and investors on how we are all doing. For some businesses, this is more important than others, particularly those that are concerned with financial matters. For companies that export abroad, the value of the pound is often a better indication of their prospects. The relation between this and the FTSE is not always straight forward. In recent times, a fall in the FTSE has seen a rise in the pound and vice versa.

The combined power of SMEs is much greater than all the companies on the FTSE100 together. Our small businesses £1.6 trillion of the UK’s turnover and they make a huge contribution to the economic health of the country. They also create around three times the number of jobs the big players do.

It has perhaps been the most contentious presidential election in recent memory. The multi-millionaire businessman who was once famous for the American version of The Apprentice is now the 45^th President of the United States.

Trump has already made some brief overtures towards Britain regarding getting a trade deal going. While some doubt his protectionist policies are going to benefit the UK, others have seen it as a positive move and the chance to look forward to a more profitable post-Brexit world.

We already trade with the US a lot. Thousands of companies either have subsidiaries in different states or send products and services over the Atlantic. A new trade deal is going to be good for those businesses that want to forge new paths and this could be an exciting time for the UK. But there are some big hurdles to overcome in the near term.

The Aftermath of Brexit

The biggest change in the UK came last June when we voted to leave the EU. It sent shock waves around the world and left people on both sides of the argument uncertain of what lay ahead. A few months on and we are still no clearer how this is all going to look. Article 50 is yet to be triggered and our big step into the unknown has got many worried. The business community is doing its best to prepare but they need the answer to vital questions, particularly what happens following Brexit and where we’ll be able to do business.

Trade with the USA

As part of the EU, we can’t form a new partnership with the US outside of this until we have formally left. We can gain an insight about what any potential trade deal will be from the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) that has got many people in Europe worried over the last few years. Included in the agreement were stipulations perceived as an attempt by multi-national companies to determine legislation in countries that signed up to the deal. In the UK, we have higher standards when it comes to consumer protection and employee rights than in the US and this was a huge sticking point.

There’s also a general rule in commerce and trade deals that the bigger country will always get disproportionately more out of any arrangement than the smaller one. Though we punch above our weight in the global market place, many businesses will be rightly worried that the US will have a distinct commercial advantage over the UK compared to when we were part of the EU.

Trump and the Environment

When President Trump made his initial comments about opening free trade with the UK, he also said that they could send over their gas and oil at a cheaper price. While this was an off the cuff remark, if US energy companies do get free, unfettered access to the UK market it could have a serious impact on the renewables industry here. Trump, as we know, is no fan of climate change and is likely to withdraw from the Paris accord and shelve Obama’s Clean Energy Plan.

Health and Drugs

Another area that could be impacted is health care. The UK might lose out because it won’t have the backing of the EU which could temper any such arrangement. The big worry is that the pharmaceutical giants may well impact the current regulatory framework and even extend the licensing period for particular drugs. Healthcare in the UK is a huge industry and there are many businesses involved with it that may be affected in some way. Many politicians are already concerned about how a trade deal with the US will impact the NHS.

Food and Farming

We have higher standards and more rules when it comes to food production in the UK and this could not only impact on farming but the health of the country. According to The Guardian recently:

“Controversial US practices such as washing raw chicken in chlorine would appal many British shoppers. That is to say nothing about the future of small-scale British farming if it has to compete head-on with the vast prairies of the US Midwest.”

Is it all bad news for UK businesses?

Certainly not. There are plenty of opportunities for businesses of all types to expand abroad and find productive and profitable new markets in the USA and we have a lot to offer. The devil is going to be in the detail. We need to get a strong agreement that protects our side of the deal, maintains our standards and gives us some degree of control. That is not going to happen as quickly as perhaps President Trump thinks or wants.

The Brexit Effect

There is one big hurdle in the way, of course. Before we can arrange a trade deal with the US, we need to get Brexit out of the way. Article 50 is due to be triggered in March and from then it’s expected that negotiations for exit will take about two years. There are those who fear things could drag on longer than expected, particularly in light of the recent Supreme Court ruling that triggering has to be agreed by Parliament.

Whatever deal that could be on the table now with the US, may have changed radically by the time we are in a position to take advantage of it. That is certainly concerning for businesses across the UK. The trouble is nothing can yet be done about it. For the moment, we can only watch the Trump presidency grow and hope that the Brexit negotiations run smoothly. Only then will we be able to begin.