The UK’s ‘existential crisis’ over Brexit



Brexit has thrown Britain into an ‘existential crisis’, according to deVere chief executive Nigel Green, as Prime Minister Theresa May steps down and there are yet more delays to the UK’s departure date.
Economically, Brexit cost the UK economy £66 billion in less than three years, according to S&P Global Ratings, and confidence in the financial services sector was at an all-time low.
Other businesses had relocated their work to European cities like Frankfurt and Amsterdam and there was a significant drop in the value of sterling which meant imports were more expensive.
Green, who leads the global financial advisory group, said: “Brexit has thrown Britain into a profound existential crisis. It has cost Britain three lost years of opportunity.
“All of Parliament’s time and energy is vested in Brexit. It appears nothing else is getting done and so much needs to be done.”
He described this period as ‘Britain’s lost years’ as the country’s future hung in the balance with minimal certainty over what Brexit will look like. The latest Brexit deadline for the UK to leave the European Union is 31 October, 2019.
“After three years, the uncertainty grows rather than recedes. Who will be the Prime Minister that will take the UK out of the EU. Will there be a second referendum and what would be on the ballot paper? Will Britain leave with no deal?
“With so many serious and far-reaching questions hanging ominously unanswered-and more growing each week- Brexit Britain’s lost years are not even close to being over.”
Recommended for you
With an advice M&A deal taking around six months to enact, two experts have shared their tips on how buyers and sellers can avoid “deal fatigue” and prevent potential deals from collapsing.
Several financial advisers have been shortlisted in the ninth annual Women in Finance Awards 2025, to be held on 14 November.
Digital advice tools are on the rise, but licensees will need to ensure they still meet adviser obligations or potentially risk a class action if clients lose money from a rogue algorithm.
Shaw and Partners has merged with Sydney wealth manager Kennedy Partners Wealth, while Ord Minnett has hired a private wealth adviser from Morgan Stanley.