Firms in North mind their own business on Brexit

Ulster may once have had a reputation for saying “no”, but when it comes to the Brexit debate the message from the business community is slightly more ambiguous.

Barely a handful of chief executives and business leaders in the North have declared their views on whether the UK should leave the EU.

Only a few notable exceptions such as industry veteran Dr William Wright of the Wright Group and Michael Ryan of Bombardier have made their feelings clear on how they will be voting in the EU referendum on June 23rd.

Wright, who is the Vote Leave campaign’s co-chair in the North, is adamant that the best option for the future of the UK and the North is “releasing ourselves” from the EU.

“We must look to all the world and not tie ourselves into the European Union where I believe costs have grown and benefits have fallen. I urge everyone in Northern Ireland, to be diligent, to give this debate serious consideration and ultimately, to Vote Leave,” Wright said in his first official speech on the subject.

Wright, who is in his late 80s and still a board member of the Wright Group, is one of the North’s most successful businessmen. The Ballymena company employs more than 1,500 people and exports its buses around the world.

The group has been keen to stress that its founder’s stance is a “personal” one and not a corporate position.

Future success

This is in contrast to Bombardier vice-president Michael Ryan who said the Canadian group was leaving no room for doubt what its views were on UK membership of the EU.

Bombardier has told its local workforce: “As one of Northern Ireland’s largest employers, we strongly believe that our competitiveness and future success is better served if the UK remains part of the European Union.”

However, businesspeople seem to have no problem sharing their views with bodies such as the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) on a possible Brexit.

According to research carried out by the chamber, 81 per cent of its members will vote to stay in the EU, while the CBI said the majority of its member companies wanted to remain within a “reformed EU”. Meanwhile, the FSB said its latest survey showed that 43 per cent of local small businesses could “still be swayed” on the referendum.

At just about any industry event in the North these days, you will find someone somewhere arguing about what Brexit could mean for the Northern Ireland economy and their particular business.

Everyone from bank chief executives to the next generation of accountants has a view. But there also seems to be a reluctance among local businesspeople to be publicly identified as belonging to either the Vote Leave camp or the Stay In camp.

The business community here has a well-practised tradition of keeping its head down and getting on with things, and the EU referendum is just the latest example of that approach.

Assembly elections

The Brexit debate is also taking place against the backdrop of Assembly elections where all of the political parties have vigorously declared where they stand – another reason businesses see for keeping their heads down.

For example, when it comes to the larger parties, the DUP is supporting the leave campaign while the SDLP, Sinn Féin and UUP are in the stay camp.

Perhaps businesspeople believe declaring an allegiance at this time could also suggest an allegiance to a political party to which they might not otherwise subscribe.

Either way their overwhelming silence on the subject might not be the best way to help stimulate more debate in workplaces across the North about the fundamental questions raised by the EU vote.