More than half the business leaders in the North-east (55%) say that the outcome of David Cameron’s EU negotiations are unlikely to influence how they vote in any upcoming referendum.
According to an Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce survey, support for membership remains strong in the North-east, as the results reveal that three in four business leaders will vote to remain in the union.
When asked how committed they are to their decision, 80% say they are either completely committed or unlikely to change their mind. This compares with 60% of business leaders in the rest of the UK, and 69% in Scotland.
While this figure confirms previous results which found similar levels of support for remaining, there has been a rise in the number of business leaders who say they would vote to leave the EU, with 18% indicating this, compared with 11.5% in September last year.
There has also been a marked quickening of interest in the subject, with more than two-thirds of North-east business leaders (68%) now following the debate “closely”, that is at least weekly, compared with 37% in September.
This close attention is evident as the Prime Minister this week labours over the UK’s renegotiation package, as most businesses said they were familiar with every objective of the package.
Sixty-nine per cent said that if the Prime Minister’s negotiation process was successful, the results would have a positive impact in reducing red tape and boosting competitiveness.
Similarly, nearly a half (48%) expected a positive impact from negotiating an exemption from “ever closer union”, although less than a third (29%) saw restricting EU migrants’ access to tax credits as having a positive impact on business.
Liam Smyth, membership director of Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce, said: “It appears the Prime Minister’s negotiations are not affecting our members’ decisions as the number saying that the results are unlikely to sway them has actually risen since we last surveyed our members in September.
“Despite more than nine out of ten of our members saying that the referendum has had no material impact on their business so far, they know that it is a subject that will affect everyone.
“We welcome the findings that more businesses are paying closer attention to the debate, and we will continue to provide detailed and unbiased information on the subject to our members.”