Deloitte, an accounting firm, said Monday that a growing number of large UK-based companies are putting cash flow first and worried about the economic downturn, with their views on the long-term economic impact of the British recession being the most negative in history.
About 81% of the finance chiefs surveyed predicted that the British withdrawal would lead to a long-term deterioration of the business environment in the UK, the highest proportion since the issue was first raised in June 2016 after the British referendum to leave Europe.
This is higher than 78% of the quarterly survey of 89 companies at the end of last year. Fifteen FTSE 100-index stocks, 33 FTSE 250-index stocks and subsidiaries of small and large foreign-funded enterprises were surveyed.
Deloitte conducted the survey from March 26 to April 7. After Britain decided that it would not leave Europe on March 29, the British Prime Minister Theresa May was allowed to postpone it for six months.
"Large companies clearly want to guard against risk by increasing cash levels and a strong balance sheet," said David Sproul, Deloitte's Northwestern European chief executive.
Official data released last month showed that corporate investment in the UK declined every quarter of 2018, the longest decline since the 2008/09 financial crisis.
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