12:04
Unknown
Last week saw the people of
Scotland vote ‘no’ in a historic referendum, at Axis Telecom we witnessed the
reaction of the UK’s business community, who expressed relief.
Fears for business over a ‘Yes’ Vote
Axis Telecom have been keeping a
keen eye on the Scottish debate over independence. In the run up to last
Thursday’s vote, businesses spoke out against the measure in the media, many
felt that a ‘Yes’ vote would be bad both
for their profit margins, and for the national economy as a whole.
It’s true that many businesses
owners on both sides of the boarder were pleased with the outcome of the
referendum. Those institutions with large investments in the area were quickest
to express the relief they felt.
Banks lead Reaction to ‘No’ Vote
The banking community in
particular expressed relief at the ‘No’ vote. Banks such as the Royal Bank of
Scotland, Standard Life, Lloyd’s TSB and Tesco Bank had stated they would
consider moving their operations south of the border should Scotland vote to
break away from the UK.
RBS put out a statement
suggesting that following a ‘no’ vote, "that contingency plan is no longer
required. Following the result it is business as usual for all our customers
across the UK and RBS," a decision echoed in statements by Standard Life,
Lloyd’s TSB and others.
Business Lobbying Groups Welcome the ‘No’ stance
Meanwhile, business groups, who
represent the best interests of SMEs expressed “relief” at the decision. The
Confederation of British Industry (CBI) director general John Cridland
commented that "business has always believed that the Union is best for
creating jobs."
He added that, "this is a momentous day for our United Kingdom
and this result will be greeted by a collective sigh of relief across the
business community."
Business Community in relief
Scottish Independence may
have been an explosive subject in Scotland that stirred up some passion on both
sides, but the expression of relief at a ‘no’ vote by the business community is
powerful. It suggests that staying together is better for the business
community at large - a suggestion mirrored by the sudden rise of the pound on the release of the news. Small business have expressed relief because it seemed
as if they would have been most vulnerable to a possible economic fall-out if a
‘Yes’ vote had been victorious.
