A CONFERENCE held with the aim of letting business leaders tell politicians exactly what they think about the impact of Brexit has taken place in Mold.

Hosted by Theatr Clwyd and organised by Jack Sargeant AM and the Deeside Business Forum, the Brexit Business Conference gave the business community the perfect opportunity to influence their elected representatives ahead of the Westminster vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal scheduled for next week.

Video by Geoff Abbott

Among the speakers at the event on Friday were First Minister Mark Drakeford, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Rebecca Long Bailey and Minister for Economy and Transport Ken Skates, with the conference also attended by Assembly Members from North East Wales, MPs and business representatives from both sides of the Welsh-English border.

Throughout the morning politicians chaired discussion groups where businessmen and women shared their views and asked questions on the impact of Brexit.

After the discussions each chairman then presented a summary of the group’s debate to the whole conference with delegates also casting their votes in a mock-referendum, either for Mrs May’s deal, for no deal, or for remain,with the majority opting to stick with the existing deal.

“The idea came from a meeting Askar Sheibani, the chair of Deeside Business Forum, and I, had with Keir Starmer MP,” explained Mr Sargeant. “He raised the point that he needed to hear more from businesses on Brexit so we organised this landmark event and over 150 people have attended and it’s great to hear their voices.

“These are interesting times and it will be hectic over the next weeks, but certainty and clarity are needed and we’ve been calling for that from day one and it was that need for certainty that was the main outcome today.”