‘No deal disorderly Brexit is a ‘complete no no’ for Doncaster firms says business boss  Dan Fell

Chamber of Commerce boss Dan Fell said despite differing business opinions on Brexit from leave and remain supporters, ‘kicking the can down the road’ and averting ‘no deal’ Brexit would be better than ‘whipping the sticking plaster off and opening up Pandora’s box’.

He said there is a ‘real mix’ of pro-leave and pro-remain businesses he engages with on a regular basis. 

The UK plans to leave the European Union on March 29. 

Mr Fell told councillors at a recent meeting at Civic Office he has been talking to businesses for over two years on the issue of Brexit and admitted he was ‘very frustrated’ that he could only answer around a third of questions put to him by companies because ‘there isn’t an answer yet’. 

The commerce chief said he recently attended a business dinner in which he felt ‘friction in the room’ over opposing views on Brexit. 

Addressing councillors, Mr Fell said: “The one thing that is pretty unanimous is the ‘no deal’ disorderly Brexit is a complete no no. 

“There is a slight tension there because business hates uncertainty so a solution of kicking the can down the road on the flip side brings more uncertainty.

“But there’s a notion that feels less bad than whipping the sticking plaster off and opening Pandora’s box type stuff in the eyes of the vast majority of the business community. 

“In terms of our piece to national government, it is to avoid a ‘no deal’ disorder and the chaos in the short term is part of our message here. 

“Whilst we have big business in Doncaster who can take long term views on stuff, our business base here is micro business who typically can’t think years ahead other than weeks and months ahead and here and now it would kill a few people.”