Even the most ardent Brexiteer would be unlikely to deny that in the short-term, Brexit will be highly chaotic, whatever form it eventually takes. There is going to be market disruption, currency rates will fluctuate and there will be an extended period where everything continues to feel unsettled.
But it needn’t be the end of the world, which is what one could be forgiven for thinking might happen if they read some of the press commentary around Brexit. This is all especially true in the sector that I work in, technology. As an entrepreneur with a number of successful tech ventures behind me, and having founded my latest business, Process Bliss, in 2018, I am optimistic for the UK technology sector post-Brexit and I believe that my business and many others can thrive.
Removing the uncertainty
The uncertainty about what form Brexit will take has been a major contributor to the projections of doom and gloom. The fact is, no actually knows what will unfold when Brexit has happened, so it is hard to forecast anything with any real accuracy.
But the UK, and UK technology companies, remain hugely attractive to investors, customers and partners from all over the world. Throughout 2018, UK start-ups attracted significant levels of Venture Capital (VC) funding despite Brexit uncertainty. Four of Europe’s biggest VC investments in Q4 2018 were for UK start-ups, while $1.6 billion was invested in UK fintech alone in 2018.
We are undoubtedly in the middle of a chaotic period and in the short-term things will feel even more turbulent. Brexit is a challenge, but I think the uncertainty over Brexit is worse than anything and any pressure on the economy has been caused by that uncertainty. Once we have steered our way through the initial period and businesses are clearer in how things operate, then the economy will gradually settle down and the technology sector can pick back up where it left off.
Is the influence of politics in business over-stated?
Everything around Brexit so far has been guess work and although the economy and business are issues that have been front of mind since the referendum, I often wonder what tangible and day-to-day influence politics has on business.
When Trump became US President there were also many predictions about what would or would not happen. Yet whatever your thoughts on the rest of his policies, the economy is performing strongly and businesses all over the US are still trading and thriving, particular in technology, which goes from strength to strength.
I believe there are other factors that can have more of a bearing on business and technology than politics. For example, the banking crisis of 2008 was incredibly tough for consumers and businesses all over the world. My previous company, governance software firm eShare, had launched just before that and managed to see it through, so I would argue that those conditions were far more impactful to a business than whatever Brexit may (or may not) throw at us. If a technology firm is smart and addresses a genuine need, it’s success will not hinge on Brexit.
Retaining talent and rivalling the US
The UK tech sector does utilise a lot of talent from around the world and I wouldn’t want to see that change. Even if there is a no-deal Brexit then I am confident measures will be put in place soon after that which ensure some freedom of movement.
But the talent is here in the UK already and I think the UK can really spread its wings once Brexit has happened and things settle down. The UK can become the European Palo Alto, but the challenge for tech start-ups is catching up with the US. In terms of my sector, SaaS, Palo Alto has so many good products and so much investment, which also means they’ve got much of the talent going there too.
So a major challenge in UK tech post-Brexit is breaking that talent hub – there’s so much talent in the US that knows how to get things done in technology. We must learn from that and develop our own people of that type and calibre, to really challenge the status quo.
I didn’t buy into the pessimism that surrounded Brexit at the time of the referendum and I don’t now. The UK remains a great country for technology and business overall and the EU will undoubtedly want to continue trading with us. We will be the most EU-aligned of non-EU countries, so we will trade with the EU more than any other non-EU country in the world.
Once we know what form Brexit will take, then the tech companies in the UK can adapt accordingly and concentrate on driving their business forward again.
Alister Esam
About the author
Alister Esam is the founder and CEO of Process Bliss, the process management tool that helps small businesses stay on top of their everyday processes and tasks. Alister has set up a number of technology businesses, most notably eShare, which had a presence in over 30 countries and employed more 70 people before he sold the company in 2018 and founded Process Bliss.
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