Recruiters have urged government to get on with the process of Brexit to reduce uncertainty among clients so they can proceed with recruitment plans.

The call comes as a legal challenge to the government's right to formally begin Brexit without parliamentary approval gets under way at the High Court this morning.

The High Court will consider whether ministers can invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the trigger for beginning of the process of enacting the UK’s vote to leave the European Union in June of this year, without MPs passing a new law.

The BBC reports investment manager Gina Miller’s legal team, headed by constitutional lawyer and cross-bench peer Lord Pannick, will argue that invoking Article 50 will threaten the rights of individuals enshrined in the 1972 European Communities Act – the legislation which paved the way for the UK to join the European Economic Community.

Speaking to Recruiter this morning, Tony Goodwin, group chief executive and chairman of staffing group Antal International, expressed concerns that the move would create further uncertainty for business, and more worrying raises the prospect of people thinking they can revoke the decision of June’s referendum.

“When you move into that realm you’re on very thin ice from a societal democratic cohesion point of view. You could have people demonstrating on the streets or worse,” Goodwin said. “The margin of victory for Brexiteers was slim but it is nevertheless valid. So you can’t put big question marks on whether Article 50 is going to be invoked.”

Goodwin’s message to government is they should get on with the process of Brexit, adding the more the process is delayed, the worse it is for business. 

“The opposition tabled 170 odd questions on what Brexit looks like. That’s fine – they are entitled to do that and indeed it might help government cover everything – it might be a facilitator. But where it’s not a facilitator, where it’s just a stalling tactic or adding to the confusion, the opposition aren’t doing the economy any good whatsoever.”

Gethin Roberts, managing director of driver recruiter Drivers Direct, agrees. He told Recruiter: “Now the decision has been made, even more uncertainty makes no sense. I think we have to go ahead and negotiate the deal for Britain and get on with it.”

For now, however, Goodwin told Recruiter the adverse effects of the UK’s vote to leave the EU on business had been minimal. 

“At the moment our UK businesses Parkside and Smart Moves are holding up well but there are assignments that have been put on hold – not many. There are candidates that are more jittery about moving than they were before. We do need to get on with it. We do need to reduce the uncertainty, have a plan and then stick to the plan,” Goodwin said.

“We’re still in this position where people don’t know what two years time is going to look like. In our client base nothing seems to have changed. We continue to get ready for our peak business and things look exactly the same as they did in July in terms of where our business is,” Roberts added.

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