British and American healthcare professionals predict further delays to Brexit as Europeans expect no-deal

The majority of healthcare professionals in Europe, Britain and America think Brexit will happen. However they do not believe that the UK will be leaving on the existing deal on 31 October 2019.

Those who think there will be a further delay to Brexit make up the biggest groups in America (41%) and Britain (38%), while 43% of Europeans believe the UK will leave with a no-deal Brexit.

In contrast just 24% of Americans and 16% of Britons think that a no-deal Brexit is the most likely option on 31 October 2019.

Meanwhile 22% of healthcare professionals in the UK think Britain will leave on re-negotiated terms on 31 October while 19% of Europeans think there’ll be a second referendum.

Urte Jakimaviciute, Senior Director of Market Research at GlobalData commented: “May’s withdrawal agreement has already been rejected three times by the UK Parliament. With the EU and the UK making no further progress to address the Irish border issue, it is unlikely that the agreement will be sealed.”

“Since GlobalData started the Brexit tracker back in Q1 2018, healthcare industry professionals kept on highlighting that investing resources into managing the potential outcomes of Brexit was one of the top concerns affecting their corporate strategy. Further Brexit uncertainty translates into further expenses. For example, GSK announced that its contingency plan-related costs will reach £70m over the next two to three years, with ongoing additional costs of approximately £50m per year.”   

“With less than three months left until the deadline, and businesses urging the UK Government to abandon a No Deal Brexit, another deadline extension may still be on the table. However, delaying Brexit would mean longer exposure to uncertainty, which will affect economy and business.”

Louis Goss