Ms Marie Armstrong:

I think part of it is that they do not really understand what the heck Brexit would mean. The most recent survey was carried out in February. They are just sitting on the fence waiting to see what will happen. They assume something will happen but they just were not sure. It is difficult to know whether it is due to hedging or whatever else but the view appears to have been that they would just sit and wait rather than panic and run around and do things. That will change rapidly once Article 50 is triggered this month.

We were already looking at things like modelling for companies on their costs and supply chain if customs and VAT are factored in. People will be concerned about the potential impact in particular if one has products going back and forth across the Border. For example, in the car industry, specialist parts are manufactured here. Some of the raw materials that go into the product, which is then exported out of this country, go through a whole supply chain and could incur additional costs. Companies are just starting to look at that. I think they will start to do something but I do not think they will wait. It was just uncertainty and maybe a hope that it would all go away, that somebody would see sense or that it would not go ahead.

I mentioned Scotland. I do not know whether Scotland will decide to have to have another vote on independence and if that would change the situation. As much as 50% of members are as worried about Europe as they are about Britain and that number will increase depending on the outcome of the elections in the coming weeks.