Three conditions for effectively engaging business on Brexit

Just after the election, five leading business organisations released a statement calling on the Government to “engage continuously with UK business interests on the many crucial and complex aspects of our future economic relationship with the European Union”. 

Business Secretary Greg Clark has responded by announcing the creation of “a new EU exit business advisory group”, to be led by David Davis and himself. It will meet fortnightly and its members will include representatives from the five main business organisations: the Institute of Directors, British Chambers of Commerce, Confederation of British Industry, the Engineering Employers' Federation and Federation of Small Businesses.

This is a welcome attempt to formalise the ad hoc arrangements that we saw between last year's Brexit vote and this year’s election. Brexit matters to business, and not just in the shape of future trade relations but also in relation to wider issues of migration policy, access to regulatory agencies, research collaboration and general systems continuity in matters like data sharing.

Business must know what to prioritise and how to minimise the disruption to existing business models. They will need to put in place new systems in place and require advance notice to make those changes.

Business needs to be ready for the changes that will happen when the UK leaves the EU. If the Government’s engagement is to be more productive than what went before, it needs to meet three key conditions:

1. Set a clear and open framework

There needs to be a clear timetable and agenda with the right people attending the meetings and the right structures in place for conveying messages efficiently to negotiators, legislators and implementers wherever they sit in Government. Business needs to know that if they deliver a message it will get to the right place. And if that message raises difficult issues, business must be confident those issues will be addressed.  

2. Facilitate dialogue, not monologue

Business has complained that Government is like a sponge – absorbing information but giving nothing back. That has to change. In the background briefing to the Queen’s Speech, the Government outlined how it would “test and validate positions and to continue to build support from the business community” as Brexit negotiations progress. That can only happen if there is a real two-way conversation. 

3. Enable an in-depth discussion on implementation and technical issues

Business should be able to get to work on the nitty gritty detail. That means moving beyond engagement with representative organisations to the people on the frontline of business.

Our case study on the pension automatic enrolment system shows the different issues that arose when Government engaged with payroll managers rather than trade associations.

Sector-specific working groups provide suitable platforms for achieving these in-depth discussions. In February 2017, the Professional and Business Services Council established a Mutual Market Access Working Group to focus on Brexit. The Government needs to be ready to set up more of these working groups where they are needed.

The new business advisory group shows that the Government is listening to feedback and is welcome progress. Its first task should be the development of a full scale plan for business engagement that genuinely enables Government to tap into business expertise – and allow business to prepare for Brexit.  

Read 'Creating and sustaining an effective strategic dialogue with business' - a slideshow presenting the results of IfG's research on government engagement with business.