A minority of UK companies say they have made any arrangements for the 29th of March, the date of the UK’s departure from the European Union. Meanwhile, many UK consumers don’t believe that anything will change.

This is according to two separate studies that explore how the UK is feeling about and preparing for Brexit. A report from the Bank of England’s regional agents finds that two thirds of the 369 companies they spoke to had made any arrangements. These include setting up new legal entities, relocating offices, or making changes to sourcing and supply chains.

Key to these findings are the distributions of sectors. Construction companies, working in a mostly domestic market, were least likely to have made preparations. While business services, the category that most of the FT’s readership belongs to – banks, lawyers – and also services such as advertising, were more likely to have already made changes. However, a significant proportion (just under 40%) of this category are yet to make any changes.

The report also found that companies in the aerospace and automotive sector were among the most concerned about the impact of Brexit on their businesses, due to the highly integrated supply chains that have relied on the European Union.

Meanwhile, research from media agency the 7Stars, which surveyed 1000 Britons, found that as many as 39% believe nothing will change after the 29th March 2019. Among self-reported ‘leave’ voters, this figure climbs to 65%.

If there is to be an impact, 48% of respondents worried about increased racism and intolerance. A similar number (47%) worry about a crash in the value of the pound, despite just 35% believing this will happen.

Commenting on the findings, the 7Stars’ insight team lead, Francis Revel says “it’s interesting to see the public somewhat burying their heads in the sand when it comes to evaluating the real-life implications. Despite government forecasts and the ongoing fallout over Theresa May’s deal, a large amount of Leave voters are still under the impression that their lives will remain largely unaffected.”

Sourced from the Financial Times, the 7Stars; additional content by WARC staff