British business minister Sajid Javid on Sunday urged companies not to panic following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union despite dire warnings of the economic consequences of the Brexit vote.
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Mr Javid told the BBC his message to businesses was “there’s no need to panic”.
Business Department officials will be visiting businesses across the United Kingdom to answer any concerns, and Mr Javid said he will be talking to the TUC because unions had an “important” part to play.
He also told company bosses that Britain’s access to the European Union single market may not take the same form as other non-EU countries.
In what is hoped to be the first of a series of meetings, Javid is expected to argue that while Brexit will generate risks, there will also be opportunities for businesses.
Among the two dozen business leaders attending will be the heads of the British Chambers of Commerce, the Confederation of British Industry and the Federation of Small Businesses, a spokesman for the Business Department said. None of this has changed on Friday morning.
Javid, who had campaigned for Britain to remain in the bloc, is seen as a candidate to become the next finance minister in a new government after Prime Minister David Cameron announced he would step down by October.
Meanwhile the FSB has added its voice to calls for the United Kingdom to retain as much access as possible to the European Single Market.
Pushed on when the United Kingdom should start the process of leaving the EU, Mr Javid said the United Kingdom does not need to immediately trigger Article 50, which sets a two-year deadline for a deal.
Hammond said there would have to be a “trade-off” between migration and access to the single market.
London’s big finance firms are looking at plans to move thousands of staff overseas if Britain leaves the single market.
“As some of these huge uncertainties at the moment begin to diminish, many of our members said they still have plans they want to go ahead with”, said Fairbairn.
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Mr Javid, a close ally of Mr Osborne, declined to comment on whether there would be an emergency budget.
