Brexit is responsible for holding up hundreds of innovation projects, new research from Schneider Electric has found. The automation and energy management company found that almost a third of businesses (31%) claimed to have delayed projects in the last 12 months and more than one in ten (13%) had cut budgets for key projects, including those aimed at tackling sustainability, due to political uncertainty.
The research findings, published in a new report, Rethink Energy, examined the behaviours, priorities and investments in relation to sustainability of 400 large business, 120 SMEs and 2,000 consumers in the UK. The Schneider Electric commissioned study revealed that whilst sustainability is now firmly on the boardroom agenda, the number of businesses choosing to delay projects has increased 25% in the last two years. At the same time, the number of businesses fearing that the cost of implementing sustainable working practices will impact profits, has also sky-rocketed.