By Anthony Lorenz, managing director, The Lorenz Consultancy
I loved Richard Tice’s upbeat article about how the West End market has held up so well through Brexit and how many extra people have taken jobs.
I am fully with Richard, and support all his views, but would go one stage further. The strength of the central London market is currently under a black cloud of pessimism, where about at least half of the population (the remainers) fear the worst from Brexit negotiations.
Even the Brexit supporters fear an uncertain outcome, and this adds to the darkness. Even under this depressing cloud, the West End market has performed well. How much brighter is it likely to be when, in two years, the clouds of uncertainty will be gone and the sun peeks through?
Whether we face a hard or soft Brexit and whether we reach an agreement or not, uncertainty leaves people unable to make decisions, and tends to deflate the market.
I am as optimistic as Richard. Slightly unlike him, I voted for Brexit to renegotiate. I believe that when the EU takes a big gulp and imagines what it would be like for the UK not so much to fully exit but to renegotiate its relationship with Europe, it will eventually drop its bluffing poker hand.
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