Slough to be among top urban areas to feel negative impact of Brexit, study says

New research suggests that Slough will be among the top five UK urban areas to be negatively impacted by Brexit.

A report by the London School of Economics Centre for Economic Performance and think tank Centre for Cities says the South-east of England and urban areas will be hit the hardest.

The paper, titled ‘The Local Economic Effects of Brexit’, assesses the impact of trade barriers associated with 'soft' and 'hard' Brexit scenarios.

It predicts towns in the South-east will be worse hit because they are home to more specialised industry sectors.

It says areas more likely to vote ‘remain’ are the ones expected to be most affected by Brexit.

Bucking this trend is Slough, which ranked fifth in the study’s top 10 most affected urban areas.

In the 2016 referendum Slough voted to leave, with 29,631 backing Brexit over the town’s 24,911 remain voters.

A soft Brexit is predicted to result in a 1.4 per cent reduction in Slough’s gross value compared to -2.8 per cent after a hard Brexit.

However the report also says that, although London and the South-east will be hit the hardest, they are also likely to recover more strongly than other areas of the UK.

In contrast, towns in the North, the Midlands and Wales are predicted to be less impacted but also less equipped to bounce back from any economic shocks.

The study also says that the negative impact of Brexit tends to be bigger for areas with higher average wages.