Sunday Politics survey highlights Brexit uncertainties

As soon as the Government reports progress in the Brexit negotiations with the EU, a survey of local business opinion delivers a sharp reminder that however good or bad the eventual deal or no-deal turns out to be for Britain, the continuing political uncertainty is having a chilling effect on business already.

Local manufacturers in the automotive industry's supply chain will have drawn no comfort from recent reports that our major car manufacturers are putting significant investment decisions on hold while they wait to see how all this pans out. And time is one commodity they can never get back.

So we should not be exactly amazed to discover that the continuing political uncertainty emerges as the principal concern among firms surveyed for BBC Sunday Politics Midlands by our Hereford and Worcester Political reporter, James Pearson.

Political reporter James Pearson has been gauging the business impact of Brexit

SUNDAY POLITICS BREXIT IMPACT SURVEY

These findings are drawn from 689 West Midlands companies:

26% reported a negative impact

11% reported a positive impact

63% reported a neutral impact

And James Pearson also surveyed 544 businesses in his area, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. Among local manufacturers there he found:

36% reported a negative impact

16% reported a positive impact

48% reported a neutral impact

Furthermore, 43% of them reported the future customs and trading relationships with EU countries was their biggest single worry.

But please resist any temptation to turn this number around and suggest this must mean 57% are not worried about it. What we are seeing here are the biggest single numerical blocks of opinion, but there are plenty of differing minority views behind the headline numbers.

Black and white, or grey?

The referendum may have been couched as a binary question: should the UK remain in the EU or should we leave? But opinions are really much more nuanced than that. With every passing day comes further proof of just how many shades of grey there are between the two extremes.

So James Pearson is following-up on his findings in this weekend's Sunday Politics Midlands.

He will be finding out why some local businesses report feeling optimistic about their prospects and why others say they are pessimistic as the Brexit countdown ticks down.

Will West Midlands businesses find the post-Brexit world too... in-tents?

Rocket Caravans of Stourport-on-Severn says business continues to be so good since the referendum that it has moved into new premises only this week.

But Olpro, which makes camping equipment at Little Whitley in Worcestershire, says it is already encountering uncertainty and hesitancy, especially among the companies it deals with in the European Union.

As well as having a constituency in the "core" survey area, the Conservative MP for Wyre Forest in Worcestershire Mark Garnier is also a globe-trotting minister in the Department for International Trade, drumming up business for Britain around the soon-to-be post-Brexit world.

Also joining me in the studio will be the Shadow Minister for Europe and Labour MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, Khalid Mahmood .

And I hope you will join us too, in our usual 11:00 slot on BBC One on Sunday 29 October 2017.