Charles Edouard Boutee, the chief executive of Roland Berger, Europe’s largest management consultancy, has told The Times that businesses are underestimating the complexity and effects of Brexit, and has warned investors about investing in Brexit Britain.
Mr Bouee believes that companies from Europe should use “partner companies in the UK to carry out work”.
“We’re advising our clients to try to adjust and to be flexible. Uncertain and complex as it is, the best thing is to be agile.”
“We’re seeing a lot of uncertainty ahead of us and asking clients to be looking at their business model for opportunities to be flexible, which by the way is a global trend, not only for Brexit.”
“If things go wrong you may not want to carry on. If you don’t own an asset you can let it go. If you’re completely integrated it is difficult to let it go.”
“People are comparing it with a divorce. It’s not a divorce. There are rules in a divorce, there’s a background, lawyers, there are things that have taken place before.”
“In this case I don’t think we have seen such a disentanglement in the last 50 years anywhere in the world.”
After this warning from Charles Edouard Boutee to Europe's businesses against investing in Britain, it remains to be seen what the impact will be.
The Government has recently published the bill to trigger Article 50. Recently, supermarkets have warned Prime Minister Theresa May against a so-called hard-Brexit, insisting that it would put British food supplies as risk.
Theresa May planned to defend her Brexit strategy with a speech, and in that speech the Prime Minister confirmed that the UK would leave the Single Market.