THE financial impact of Brexit was high on the agenda when Bradford businesses quizzed a top Bank of England official.

The gathering preceded the latest report from the Bank’s regional agents which said business uncertainty had “risen markedly” since the Brexit vote - but there was “no clear evidence” of a sharp economic slowdown.

Raakhi Odedra, the Bank’s deputy agent for Scotland, attended an event organised by Platinum Partnership Solicitors at Bradford College to brief local businesses on monetary policy and economic stability. Questions were dominated by Brexit.

Raakhi said: “It is my job to go out and speak to businesses to get a real feeling about what is going on, to test the temperature of real businesses. It is helpful for me to come and speak to businesses directly because negative stories quite often dominate the media but what I pick up here is that for a lot of businesses it is just business as usual.”

One attendee, Karl Oxford, of Shipley-based Urban Solutions International, was enthused by the prospects offered by leaving the EU.

He said: “ Negative as the picture might look at the moment post Brexit, we have no option but to look positively towards the future and I think because of the low value of the pound Britain and its businesses are very well placed to look at a much more robust level of exporting, particularly to regions like Africa.”

The Bank’s regional agents said firms were trying to maintain “business as usual” after many failed to draw up plans for a British exit from the European Union.

A third of contacts predicted employment and investment would come under pressure within the year, but expected little impact in the short term.

Meanwhile, Vertu Motors, the Newcastle-based group which includes several Bristol Street Motors outlets in Bradford and Keighley and the Jaguar Bradford dealership on Canal Road, said it does not anticipate any major changes to the franchise arrangements with European car manufacturers following the Brexit vote .

As the UK represented the second biggest market for new vehicles in the current EU and thousands of European jobs rely on a continuation of trade with the UK, the company believes that manufacturer partners would be keen to support UK retailers through any period of uncertainty.