Brexit vote has happened - another test of our resilience

Now that the outcome of the #brexit vote is clear, what are the immediate actions that organisations should consider? Organisations should establish a task force to assess the impact of brexit. This is a strategic issue and a strategic response plan with triggers in place to ensure timely actions needs to be established. A communications plan is critical. War gaming and scenario analysis are valuable tools to cut through the fog of uncertainty.

 Article 50 is not going to be enacted immediately, however how the negotiation strategies evolve will be critical to the timing of the process. This will be a significant programme for the UK and EU governments at a time when there will be a number of national government elections across the EU. British businesses may focus on lobbying to temper the negotiation requirements, however events may in fact be controlled by the EU.

The markets dislike uncertainty and there is no experience that can reliably inform what will happen over the next two years and beyond. In that context, business need to look keenly at their capital base and cash flow assessing the resilience of their business. Regulated businesses with UK exposure are likely to experience greater scrutiny and stress testing.

 However, when Lehmans collapsed we entered into a period of then unprecedented uncertainty. As the global and European markets recovered, so to did high quality, well run businesses. That experience is still fresh in the minds of many of Ireland's corporations today, even if the conditions are not as dramatic. We just didn't think we'd need to tap into it so soon.