“Despite all the forecasts, including our own, the effect of the Brexit referendum and the subsequent triggering of Article 50 to take the UK out of the EU, has so far had no negative impact on our business and we are pleasantly surprised at this, ten months after the UK made its vote.
“We have not seen the collective failure of confidence which was widely predicted in the run up to Brexit and the months immediately after, in fact we have seen quite the opposite and Wake Smith is experiencing very buoyant trading conditions.
“This is particularly the case for our Corporate transactional team in the volume of mergers and acquisitions they are processing - and our commercial property division, both of which are handling a steady overall increase in deals, but crucially, are seeing larger value deals coming to fruition.
“Other parts of the business are also performing solidly, we have strengthened our private client team with the appointment of Suzanne Porter as a director and over the last three months we have seen a welcome increase in litigation and an upturn in employment work.
“Of course, none of this means that the impact of Brexit will not be felt, but we certainly expected to see it by now and so we have revised our long-term forecast and do not expect the effects to be felt in the short-term. Although we remain mildly cautious in our outlook, we are getting on with business as usual without worrying and it appears that many businesses, investors and developers are doing much the same.
“The Sheffield skyline is showing some of the strongest signs of development for many years and the continued influx of students is also a reassuring sight. The city appears to be showing resilience and it is noted that Knight Frank has recorded 2016 as Sheffield's best year for overseas investment into commercial property ever recorded.
“Another fear which may have concerned many at the outset of Brexit, concerns potential changes to the UK's legal system, which inherits much from European legislation.
“Our view, which echoes the stance of most legal professionals, is that there will be no 'big bang' event - where the UK instantly repeals thousands of laws, plunging our systems of governance into chaos, we will simply absorb the laws which were passed down from the EU and, over time, revise these where necessary alongside our own law-making process.
“Optimistically, we would like to see the UK economy hold its own and adapt to the changes ahead and as far as 2017 is concerned, that seems to be the case so far.”
