The UK public has voted to leave the European Union in a referendum held on Thursday, 23 June. The overall results of yesterday’s poll, declared at 6am this morning, were a 58 per cent vote to leave, versus a 48 per cent vote to remain. Turnout across the UK was high at almost 72 per cent. However, opinion was split across the regions, with London, Scotland and Northern Ireland recording a strong ‘In’ vote, while voters in Wales and England (outside of the capital) favoured an ‘Out’ decision.

Prime minister David Cameron, who had campaigned for a ‘Remain’ vote, has announced that he will be stepping down in the autumn. The EU Referendum result also sent shock waves through the financial markets this morning, with the pound dropping to its lowest level against the dollar since 1985, and the FTSE opening nearly 9 per cent down.

With many more developments still to come, Retail Systems rounds up initial reaction from the retail and technology sectors.

The British Retail Consortium:
“Now that a decision has been made to leave, it is important the Government moves quickly to explain the process of disengagement from the EU. Without clarity, retailers, other businesses and hence the economy will suffer from a prolonged period of uncertainty. We are already seeing the commencement of a period of considerable volatility as financial markets react to any emerging information that might indicate how the new relationship to the EU might be shaped. Retailers should be prepared for the possibility of significant swings, particularly in the exchange rate and consumer confidence. In order to keep prices down and to deliver the best possible choice for consumers, retailers' top priority in the short term will be to ensure the continued ease and minimum additional costs of importing EU goods into the UK for sale to customers. A prolonged fall in the value of the pound will impact import costs and ultimately consumer prices, but this will take time to feed through. In its exit negotiations the Government should aim to ensure that the trade benefits of the Single Market (i.e. the absence of customs duties) are replicated in the UK's new relationship with the EU.”

The Payments Systems Regulator:
“We recognise this is an important decision and the changing relationship with the EU is likely to impact the payments industry. Current payments regulation deriving from the EU will remain applicable until any changes are made, which will be a matter for government and parliament. We now begin the process of supporting the government to ensure we maintain a stable, innovative and competitive payments landscape. Over the coming weeks and months we will continue to keep the payments industry informed of our progress and look forward to working with the industry in a productive and transparent manner.”

John Hannett, general secretary of shop workers’ trade union Usdaw:
“It will be no surprise to anyone that the EU Referendum result is not the one Usdaw wanted, after the delegates at our annual conference overwhelmingly backed a vote to remain. The people have spoken, we must respect the outcome and now come together to get the best deal for the UK. We need reassurances that there will be no dilution of workers’ rights once we lose EU protections. We need to secure the best trade deal possible to help safeguard jobs and make our economy prosper.”

Tim Martin, founder and chairman of Wetherspoons:
“Anxiety about the economic effects of independence during the campaign was misplaced. The UK will thrive as an independent country, making its own laws, and we will work with our good friends and neighbours in Europe and elsewhere to ensure a positive outcome for all parties. The most important factor now is to work together for our mutual benefit. On a practical level, from my experience of running a business, the key factor now is to avoid the appearance and the reality of rushing to ‘do a deal’ with the EU. There is plenty of time and the UK is in an immensely strong position.”

Jon Copestake, chief retail and consumer goods analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit:
“Brexit has already caused a significant shock in retail markets with the share prices of retailers such as M&S, Tesco and Sainsbury's initially falling by more than 10 per cent before recovering slightly. While the market panic will be relatively short-lived there will follow a period of sustained uncertainty which has been exacerbated by David Cameron's resignation. From a demand point of view this means that retail sales will decline in the short term. The sales growth already achieved in 2016 will be pegged back for the rest of the year as consumers retrench and consolidate their expenditure. A weaker pound will push up prices while uncertainty during the negotiating period will weigh on household spending and retailer balance sheets. Worse is likely to come in 2017 when retail sales volumes could decline by over 3 per cent as the economy falls into recession and uncertainty mounts, especially as higher import prices also act to depress demand.”

Madeleine Thomson, retail and consumer lead at PwC:
“As we enter a transition period in leaving the European Union, the impact on retailers and consumer prices remains to be seen. Whilst we may see a short-term impact in consumer confidence, most businesses will have a contingency plan in place and there is no reason why long-term success should be impacted by the referendum outcome. In our recent Retail CEO survey, conducted ahead of the vote, 43 per cent of respondents said their growth plans were not at all dependent on staying in the EU. Currency impacts causing prices to rise or margins to be squeezed, and the impact on imports from the EU, were highlighted as the top concerns of CEOs.”　

Tudor Aw, head of technology sector at KPMG UK:
“My view is that the core attributes that make the UK Tech sector so strong and attractive remain in place, including an amazing talent base that has a long track record of creativity such as Alan Turing’s first working computer to Tim Berners-Lee’s World Wide Web. Add to that the great infrastructure and facilities; first class universities, a stable legal system; appropriate fiscal incentives; and an ecosystem of advisors that support the needs of tech companies. Technology is a sector that will only increase in importance and works without borders, I therefore continue to see the UK Tech sector as one that will not only withstand the immediate challenges of the referendum result, but one that will continue to grow and thrive.”

Matt Hunt, CEO of app developer Apadmi Enterprise:
“The UK and EU are markets that have continued to offer tech businesses huge growth potential and the international business community has been overwhelmingly supportive of our industry. Technology does not observe boundaries and we have been lucky to enjoy an inspiring array of tech from the UK, Europe and even further afield, which we have been able to access and use for the benefit of our customers. The UK tech industry has been in a strong position and the only limitations we’ve faced to do business has been our own ability. With the impending Brexit, there is now a high level of risk and uncertainty over our future and questions are being asked as to how we will be able to build on our success and further grow without the support of the EU.”

Peter Galdies, development director at data governance and compliance firm DQM GRC:
“The many organisations which already manage or contain personal data relating to EU/EEA state citizens (clients, prospects or employees) will continue to have to manage that data according to the requirements of the GDPR regardless of ‘Brexit’, or they will be in breach of the GDPR and risk large fines. So for many organisations nothing will change – the GDPR will apply even when we leave.”

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