Support for EU membership falls from UK CFOs

According to a survey from the Big Four firm Deloitte, some of the UK's top finance professionals have decided that exiting the EU (Brexit) may not be a bad thing for the country.

Support for EU membership has fallen among chief financial officers (CFOs), with the EU's weak economic recovery, the continuing migrant crisis and uncertainties about the stability of the euro being the main factors.

Unqualified support

The new study found that “unqualified” support for the country to stay in the EU among financial bosses in UK companies fell from 74% to 62%.

A further 28% said they were waiting to see what David Cameron's renegotiations with European leaders led to before they came to a decision.

Deloitte polled 137 CFOs on whether it was in the interests of UK businesses to stay as a member of the EU. The results showed there was a narrower margin for those who wanted to stay in, as 4% of CFOs were “uncertain” compared to only 1% previously.

Senior partner and chief executive of Deloitte, David Sproul, said: “A clear majority of CFOs continue to favour the UK remaining in the EU, but the proportion of those expressing unqualified support has fallen. This mirrors what we have seen from the broader public in opinion polls in the last six months."

FT poll

Another poll by the Financial Times had a slightly different twist, finding that none of the 100 leading economists it asked felt that the UK leaving the EU would be beneficial for the country’s economy.