UK's British Chambers of Commerce with their first thoughts 19 March
- agreement is sufficient for most businesses to plan ahead for investment
"This is a milestone that many businesses across the UK have been waiting for. The agreement of a status quo transition period is great news for trading firms on both sides of the Channel, as it means that they will face little or no change in day-to-day business in the short term.
"While some companies would have liked to see copper-bottomed legal guarantees around the transition, the political agreement reached in Brussels is sufficient for most businesses to plan ahead with a greater degree of confidence. Many companies will now have the clarity they require to proceed with investment and hiring strategies that would otherwise have remained in question.
"In the interests of business across Europe, both sides must now do everything in their power to ensure that the transition does not become a political football later in the negotiation process."
A few reservations on trade deals;
"A priority for both the UK and the EU must now be to secure agreement from our shared trading partners to keeping the status quo on existing EU free trade agreements. Any loss of market access would hurt UK exporters and European supply chains alike. It is excellent that the UK and the EU agree on the need for continuity in existing trade agreements; together, we must now seek confirmation from our trading partners.
"While businesses are interested in the prospect of the UK being able to sign new trade agreements during the transition period, the top priority must be to retain market access on the same terms with existing trading partners."
Overall a welcoming and positive reaction though.
GBP still underpinned overall but some money coming off the table understandably after such a decent move up.
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