BUSINESSES are cooling on acquiring or merging with UK companies since the Brexit vote, in spite of the weak pound making targets more attractive on a cost basis.

In EY’s 15th annual Global Capital Confidence Barometer, the UK has fallen out of the top five global M&A destinations.

The survey found that 62 per cent of executives remain confident about UK operations, but there is negative sentiment from countries who previously treated the UK as a gateway into Europe including 82 per cent of Japanese respondents, 56 per cent from the US and 53 per cent from China.