29/03/2017 World Business Report

With just hours to go before Article 50 is triggered we find out how

prepared businesses are for this seismic change.

And back in the race, Samsung gears up to show

off its latest smartphone, but can it regain consumer's trust

Also in the programme, we'll be finding out how exporters

are getting ready ahead of the UK breaking away from the world's

After nine months of anticipation the UK is set to become the first

country to formally tell the European Union it

It means the two year negotiation process formally begins.

For businesses across the continent it is time to sharpen their focus

on how to deal with what, for some, will be some pretty drastic changes.

Here in the UK companies large and small have been coming up

with contigency plans, something that is quite difficult

to do given the level of uncertainty.

And in the case of the big banks some have threatened to move staff

to the continent if they don't get the Brexit deal they're looking for.

If we focus on the case for the City of London.

In 2014, financial and insurance services contributed $159 billion

to the UK economy, that's about 8% of the total.

It employs almost 1.2 million people in UK.

It also contributes a trade surplus of approximately $73 billion dollars

to the UK's balance of payments, meaning it brings lots of money

$6.6 trillion worth of financial assets are under management

With me is Dr Angus Armstrong, Senior fellow from the group,

Thank you for coming in. We have highlighted the city of London

because it is such a huge part of the UK economy. But for the whole,

in terms of businesses, services, whatever, this is huge news. You are

exactly right. This is a momentous day, perhaps even the most momentous

since the Second World War economically. We will change our

economic relationship with the biggest economic partner so far.

That will change everything in the economy. The city in particular will

be affected because of the Prime Minister's insistence to leave the

jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. Finances defined by

laws. The person who oversees does is the European Court of Justice.

Outside of that and services will be affected. That is why contingency

plans have been mentioned. Financial services and sectors are watching

closely. So is everyone else. The UK has said from the beginning we want

to discuss trade in parallel with discussions about the actual divorce

terms as well. But Brussels does not want to do that, does it? It does

not want to talk trade initially. Article 50 itself says the final

agreement must make reference, only reference, to the future trade

agreement, not a detailed plan. And of course it is in the interest of

the EU to some extent get everything else sorted out first and leave the

trade until later because the UK has more at stake than the EU. To leave

it later to some extent is playing a tough bargain. Will have to wait

until 2018 unfortunately until we get real clarity about what the real

arrangements will look like. For businesses, whatever they are,

financial, import and export, they have had to make contingency plans

anyway. Many are planning for a hard Brexit. There will be winners and

losers. Give us your take on that you are right. Yesterday the Prime

Minister said she wanted a Brexit for anyone. Old trade deals by

definition have winners and losers. Who could be the most exposed? Those

in the agricultural sector, manufacturers, carmakers, textiles,

food and beverages, and of course, these are not even located across

the whole of the UK. The North of England which predominantly voted

for Brexit and Scotland as well are especially exposed. There will be

winners and losers and we will see how the politics play out. OK,

Doctor. Thank you for coming in. I am sure you have many questions

about Brexit and Article 50. And if you have any questions

about Article 50 then do We'll answer your questions on this

Friday's edition of Business Live. We will be leaning on our expertise

within the business union to give you answers to your questions.

Leaving the European Union will potentially have a huge impact

on companies here in the UK which produce and export goods.

We've been talking to firms in the north of England about how

I am Simon, the managing director of this company, which makes products

like this. We make about 6 billion a year, 4 million of which are

exported all over the world. We are looking East. Things will get harder

in Europe. The free market will no longer be for us. The tremendous

sporting goods market is a massive, almost another world, opening up, as

they get richer. There is potential, though it will be difficult. I am

the managing director of this company. We are an old established

company. We predominantly provide wattles to the spirits industry all

over the world. Products go to Europe. We have put a lot of effort

over the last 6-9 months into looking at the USA is a real

business growth opportunity. Hopefully the Free Trade Agreement

going forward will benefit us in this. We are a specialist flooring

manufacturer. We exports all over the world. It is a large market in

the UK. Brexit leaves our strategy unchanged. We will carry on

exporting to Europe, exporting to the states, and dealing with the UK.

With the sterling devaluation, we have become so much more competitive

that our sales into Europe have become better. We will stay

unchanged. And we will talk some more about Brexit in the next

half-hour. But now some other stories to talk about.

Samsung is due to unveil its latest smartphone later today,

but can it regain consumer's trust after it was forced to recall

the Note7 last year over fire issues.

We will go to Rico Hizon. Sally Bundock! An important day for

Samsung. Absolutely. With the launch of the Galaxy S8, the hope is they

will regain the trust of consumers once again after the de Bakker will

of the Galaxy Note 7. -- debacle. This will carry greater expectations

and has to prove a lot more than usual. Samsung's mobile credibility

will also be under scrutiny after being shaken by that scandal. It now

needs to reassert its reliability while also rebuilding its technology

called advantage. The first thing everyone wants to see from Samsung

is a mobile phone they can trust and not one that will spontaneously

combust in their pockets and hands. And their stock was up by 1% today,

Sally Bundock. Thank you. We will see you soon. Toshiba has approved a

plan to put its troubled nuclear section in the US under protection.

It has given Westinghouse the green light to make it at 11 filing court

with struggling firms as they try to restructure their affairs. President

Donald Trump signed an executive order rolling back Barack Obama's

plans to curb time a change. -- climate change.

President Trump said it would put an end to the "war on coal"

A quick look at the markets. It has been pretty flat in Asia today as

you can see. The price of oil edging above $51 a barrel. Keep an eye on

the pound sterling today. We will wrap this up now. I will be back in

a couple of minutes as we review the big stories in the news. I will see

you then.