SCOTTISH businesses face a Brexit “skills time bomb” as the supply of labour from European countries comes under question, it is claimed.

Jamie Kerr, a partner and specialist in immigration law at Burness Paull, said too few firms are taking steps to address the potential consequences of Britain’s departure from the EU.

He said many businesses were wrongly adopting a “wait and see” approach.

His concerns were echoed by Paul Steven, a director at independent consultancy HRC Recruitment, who urged companies to identify the key roles in their organisations likely to be affected by skills shortages.

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Mr Kerr said: “Saying ‘we’ll just wait and see because we’re all in the same boat’ is the wrong approach for businesses to take on Brexit.

“By doing nothing they face a skills time bomb, as the talent pool dries up.

“The truth is that we already know quite a lot about what immigration will look like when the UK leaves the EU and, broadly speaking, there are two aspects to it.

“In the short-term, there are issues around existing staff. Then, there are considerations for businesses with British nationals living in Europe and even those which have employees with partners from the EU.”

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He also said businesses “need to be looking ahead five years and start forward planning”.

Mr Steven said: “Organisations of all shapes and sizes need to identify the likely areas for skills shortage within their businesses, there will undoubtedly be some key roles which are affected.”

He said it “will lead to higher competition for the best talent on the market regardless of sector”.