Last year was a fitting one for IR Magazine to hold a new conference for the UK and Ireland. The vote by the UK to leave the European Union had left corporate IROs with much to ponder; uncertainty hung over the economy, the stock market and London’s position as a financial center.
By the time of the conference in late October, the even bigger shock of a Donald Trump win in the US presidential election was still a few weeks away. As a result, Brexit was the main order of business. Proceedings began with a talk from Reg Hoare of MHP Communications about how companies could manage the impact of leaving the EU (scroll down for video).
Hoare warned that quarter-to-quarter stock market volatility would persist and economic uncertainty was a given. Still, the relatively stable political situation in the UK, with Theresa May installed as prime minister, would help to steady the ship. Looking at the positives, he said investors appeared to have climbed the ‘wall of worry’ about Brexit and were starting to concentrate on the potential benefits of quitting the EU.
‘Going forward, it’s important to keep communicating the impact of Brexit to investors and maintaining a ‘business as usual’ position with shareholders,’ he said.
