Service industry having a go now. What part of Leave don’t they get? “The People” voted for you lot to be poorer, just accept the will of the people...
https://www.ft.com/content/d9abf092-...5-50daf11b720d
https://www.ft.com/content/d9abf092-...5-50daf11b720d
A coalition of leading professional and business services organisations has handed the prime minister a list of requirements they say are crucial to preserving the £188bn sector in any Brexit deal.
The 42 signatories to the letter to Theresa May, drawn from a range of consultancy, law, architecture, engineering and advertising firms, say any deal with Brussels must ensure the mutual recognition of regulations and regulatory bodies, court judgments, professional qualifications and operating licences between Britain and the EU27.
They also want continued co-operation in areas that facilitate trade, such as data sharing, and the ability for UK-based accountants, lawyers and others to recruit freely from overseas.
Britain should also ensure employees in the sector retain “fly in, fly out” rights so that they can continue to provide short-term services to European clients or British businesses doing deals in the EU, says the Professional and Business Services Council, which acts as an advisory body to the UK’s business department.
Without these arrangements, the council says Brexit will hamper the activities of the sector and therefore damage the operations of the businesses that depend on it. It estimates that exported services are worth £66bn annually.
The council’s members include the “big four” accountants, management consultancies, top law firms and a range of other businesses, as well as industry bodies and interested parties such as the Law Society, the Royal Institute of British Architects and the City.
Nick Owen, the council’s business chair and chairman at Deloitte for northwest Europe, added: “There has been a lot of discussion around goods [in the Brexit negotiations] and for understandable reasons, such as the Irish border issue.
“But we want to make sure services aren’t missed . . . The services we provide to both the UK and the EU 27 are important for the wheels of commerce to turn.”
According to the council, the combined professional and business service providers account for 11 per cent of the economy, more than the manufacturing sector.
“Failing to negotiate these elements in a final deal would impair our ability to provide our services with the same range, depth and speed our clients around the world experience today, damaging their business and putting our sectors at a distinct competitive disadvantage,” the council said in the letter to Mrs May.
It states that the various elements of professional and business services support 4.6m jobs in the UK and serve as “an enabler” for the wider economy. “We are a key reason why people the world over come to transact and resolve disputes in our country.”
The 42 signatories to the letter to Theresa May, drawn from a range of consultancy, law, architecture, engineering and advertising firms, say any deal with Brussels must ensure the mutual recognition of regulations and regulatory bodies, court judgments, professional qualifications and operating licences between Britain and the EU27.
They also want continued co-operation in areas that facilitate trade, such as data sharing, and the ability for UK-based accountants, lawyers and others to recruit freely from overseas.
Britain should also ensure employees in the sector retain “fly in, fly out” rights so that they can continue to provide short-term services to European clients or British businesses doing deals in the EU, says the Professional and Business Services Council, which acts as an advisory body to the UK’s business department.
Without these arrangements, the council says Brexit will hamper the activities of the sector and therefore damage the operations of the businesses that depend on it. It estimates that exported services are worth £66bn annually.
The council’s members include the “big four” accountants, management consultancies, top law firms and a range of other businesses, as well as industry bodies and interested parties such as the Law Society, the Royal Institute of British Architects and the City.
Nick Owen, the council’s business chair and chairman at Deloitte for northwest Europe, added: “There has been a lot of discussion around goods [in the Brexit negotiations] and for understandable reasons, such as the Irish border issue.
“But we want to make sure services aren’t missed . . . The services we provide to both the UK and the EU 27 are important for the wheels of commerce to turn.”
According to the council, the combined professional and business service providers account for 11 per cent of the economy, more than the manufacturing sector.
“Failing to negotiate these elements in a final deal would impair our ability to provide our services with the same range, depth and speed our clients around the world experience today, damaging their business and putting our sectors at a distinct competitive disadvantage,” the council said in the letter to Mrs May.
It states that the various elements of professional and business services support 4.6m jobs in the UK and serve as “an enabler” for the wider economy. “We are a key reason why people the world over come to transact and resolve disputes in our country.”
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