Brexit has started to be A Thing again. Which is weird. But I’m told it’s my job to… you know… engage with it. So. Storytime.

Companies have obviously been dealing with the much bigger fire that is a global pandemic and the many resulting crises.
(1/something)

Turns out “all my customers are shut, all my suppliers are shut, I’m shut, how do I pay my staff/rent/bills?” is a more important question than “what about diagonal cumulation?” Also if your firm goes bust in May you care less about possible non-tariff barriers from January (2/)

But some firms have are now started to turn some thoughts to the topic again. So.
Here are three things that keep coming up on how coronavirus interacts with the UK-EU FTA negotiations from a business perspective: (3/)

1. There’s been some chat about the EU FTA mattering less because what’s a few single-digit points knocked off GDP these days? You know, between friends? But for a firm already fractured by coronavirus that could be enough to shatter it
A good deal matters more in that sense (4/)

Also just because the house is on fire doesn’t mean also setting fire to the shed is chill (5/)

2. With a new normal settling in for some businesses, a number are now starting to plan for their medium-term futures. Where they’re using no deal as a baseline for that planning, it’s generally a cross in the box against their investment in the UK. (6/9)

At a time when investment is both more important than ever and harder to come by than ever, not ideal. And, unlike the previous no deal conversations, it isn’t about whether to create new investments in the UK vs elsewhere but about whether current investments are viable (7/9)

3. The obvious – which has been articulated very well by others – is if company leadership is dealing with coronavirus, or even if their usual project teams are furloughed to stem the flow of cash out of the company, they are not dealing with Brexit (8/10 - I can't count)

If you’re in new levels of debt as a result of coronavirus, you cannot afford to deal with Brexit. And you’ve just lost two months in which to get ready for Brexit (9/10)

They’re far from the only ones, but the three points that I’ve heard the most from firms filing back into my inbox over the last few days. Think a lot more people will be watching the round in May for progress than were watching the round last week. (10/10)