The Rare Businesses That Can’t Wait for Brexit

With days to go before Britain is due to leave the European Union, the terms of its exit are still unclear. Uncertainty and distrust abound. Without a negotiated withdrawal deal or an alternative plan, the country will suffer an abrupt and chaotic departure.

Unlike the vast majority of British business leaders, though, Lance Forman isn’t worried. In fact, he isn’t really worried about Brexit at all. The fourth-generation owner of Britain’s oldest salmon curer told me that his family’s company has survived fires, floods, and displacement. “What we learned from each of those catastrophes is that change provides great opportunity for renewal,” Forman said.

Brexit, he predicts, will do the same.

Not many people agree with him. Across the country, businesses have over the fallout that a no-deal Brexit could cause, with Britain suddenly separate from the EU and subject to different rules, tariffs, and regulations. The and the , Britain’s biggest business lobby group, have voiced concerns to reject a no-deal outcome in principle. And though Britain is no longer as anticipated, the chance of the country crashing out of the bloc without a deal on April 12 remains, in the words of the European Commission, “.”