Sir Richard Branson: 'Pound will plummet in no-deal Brexit'

Sir Richard Branson has said a ‘no-deal’ Brexit would cause the pound to significantly plummet and be on par with the US dollar.

The Virgin giant has demonstrated his concerns for his company, forcing it to shift investment outside of the UK. This is a harsh contrast to yesterday’s news revealing J D Wetherspoon’s chairman believes “the negative undertone of no-deal is an illusion.”

But Branson has said exiting with no deal would be ‘catastrophic’, explaining: “The pound was at $1.53 when the referendum took place. The pound today it is at $1.22, $1.23, and the pound will collapse to parity with the dollar if there is a hard Brexit.”

The businessman - who owns airlines, financial services and media companies - expects big losses for all his UK interests. He has said it would be “devastating for many Virgin companies.”

In December 2018, he warned that the UK will be left “near bankrupt” if there is a hard Brexit.

Virgin Atlantic, the group’s airline, has suffered major losses according to Branson, since the UK voted to leave the European Union in 2016.

He added: “All our costs are in dollars. Maintenance, plane costs, pretty well every cost is in dollars. And therefore, the bottom line hit of that was £100m a year…”

In other news, sterling has fallen to its lowest point in two years, dropping below $1.25.