The last week has been particularly eventful in Brexit terms. On
Wednesday, the government lost a vote in the Commons on the EU
Withdrawal Bill, with MPs backing an amendment which gives them
legal guarantee of a vote on the final Brexit deal struck with
Brussels.
On Friday, the EU formally agreed that sufficient progress has
been made in the 'divorce' negotiations and that talks can
move to next phase of transition and trade. But what do these
developments mean for business? And as the sun sets on 2017, we
look ahead to 2018 and beyond in what will be a defining period in
determining the UK's position as global trading nation.
From a business perspective, last week's vote in the Commons
changes little in terms of planning and preparation activity that
needs to take place and the timeframe for this. The final Brexit
deal has to be ratified by the 38 national and regional parliaments
across the 27 member states and so October 2018 is the deadline set
to wrap up
