When contacted, many were cautious in speaking about political issues, but the main sentiment was that it is important not to react too quickly to the recent turn of events and that they think that this is most likely a temporary situation, directly linked to the election.
Just before the election, Max Lami, CEO of Oppenheimer Europe predicted the fall in the value of the Sterling, "Although the impact on the pound won’t be as drastic as it was with Brexit, Sterling is going to see plenty of uncertainty with very little upside.”
A UK importer voiced a similar sentiment, saying that we shouldn't be too hasty in drawing conclusions and that what was most important for the Sterling is stability.
"The election only just happened, give it a couple of days. Nobody knows yet what they are going to do, it's just like the referendum, it is just something that we will have to deal with. The most important thing for traders like us is to just have stability, whether high or low, so we can make the appropriate planning." emphasised the importer.
When asked how the British consumer will be affected by higher prices in the supermarket, the importer said that it depends on how much the papers choose the route of scaremongering, "We are fortunate that we are coming up on the summer season, which means that there is a lot more British produce available which makes us less dependent on imports, compared to the winter season. If this situation stays the same into the colder months, we could see more of an impact."
Regarding Brexit and Theresa May's stance on a 'hard Brexit', Copa Cogeca recently voiced their concerns recently that it wouldn't be right if British growers were forced to pay the price of a political decision. Standing to lose the most, the report’s authors warn, are producers of fruit, vegetables, beef, dairy products and wine – which account for a large chunk of the €45 billion in annual EU food and agriculture exports to the United Kingdom.
"I expect that the exchange rate should go back to where it was before the election over the next couple of days. Just like Brexit, we don't have a crystal ball, let's just give it a bit of time and see what happens." urged the UK exporter.