ONLY one in five businesses are prepared for the challenges of Britain leaving the EU, leading law firm Blake Morgan has warned.

An informal survey commissioned by Blake Morgan found that just 20 per cent of businesses has set in place a continuity plan for the leave vote.

As a result, the firm, which has offices in Cardiff, London, Oxford, Portsmouth, Reading and Southampton, has now launched a free and informative guide, called Brexit: We Mean Business.

The guide aims to help business decision-makers navigate through the challenges of leaving the EU and take advantage of the opportunities.

The guide gives detailed and informed analysis, particularly from a legal perspective, of key areas that businesses need to consider, including employment, pensions, information governance, finances, and commercial contracts.

Bruce Potter, chairman of Blake Morgan, said: “Britain leaving the EU is one of the biggest shifts in the business world for generations and our research has revealed that many businesses may not be fully prepared for the implications.

“We have therefore launched our guide, “Brexit: We Mean Business”, as a starting point for businesses to consider areas, such as employment law and pensions regulations, that may be affected by the changes ahead.

“Despite the imponderables and ongoing uncertainty that surrounds Britain leaving the EU, businesses will want to protect themselves now from any potentially damaging effects and we hope businesses will find our guide useful and informative.

“While it is still not clear how we will take forward the laws that the UK has adopted over the past 40 years, we do know that there will be opportunities coming out of these changes and we will be supporting our clients in understanding how these can be used to their advantage.”

Advice given in “Brexit: We Mean Business” includes:

• Reassure the workforce, particularly with regard to EU nationals staff who may be feeling anxious over Brexit.

• Perform an employment audit to gauge whether your ability to recruit staff will be affected by Brexit.

• Establish as early as possible whether the business will need to make structural changes, such as relocation of staff.

• Add flexibility into financial planning and be prepared for changes in exchange rates.

• Look into appointing a Data Protection Officer if necessary ahead of changes to information governance regulations.

The full guide can be downloaded at blakemorgan.co.uk/brexit/