The U.K.'svote to leave the European Union has left more thanthree-quarters of chief executive officers saying they wouldconsider moving their headquarters or operations outside Britain,according to a survey of 100 business leaders by the accountancyfirm KPMG.

Some 72 percent of the CEOs surveyed said they voted “Remain” inthe June 23 Brexit referendum, KPMG said on Monday in an emailedstatement. “While more than two-thirds said they're confidentBritain's economy and their own companies will continue to growover the next year, 76 percent are mulling some form ofrelocation.”

“CEOs are reacting to the prevailing uncertainty withcontingency planning,” KPMG U.K. Chairman Simon Collins said in thestatement. “Over half believe the U.K.'s ability to do businesswill be disrupted once we Brexit and therefore, for many CEOs, itis important that they plan different scenarios to hedge againstfuture disruption.”

The survey suggests Prime Minister Theresa May has work to do toretain businesses and jobs as the U.K. seeks a deal with the EUthat curbs immigration while retaining the closest trading tiespossible with the bloc's 27 other members. Before the referendum,then-Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said a vote toleave would endanger as many as 820,000 jobs.

While the pound has fallen by 13 percent against the dollarsince the vote, some of the direst pre-referendum predictions havefailed to come true, particularly about the economic outlook.Still, May has yet to trigger a formal exit, saying only that shewon't begin the two-year process this year.

“Policy makers should be really concerned about a leaching ofBritish business abroad and should engage with business early tounderstand what assurances they can offer and closely monitor anyshifts overseas,” Collins said.

The survey reported on executives' intentions anonymously. Inpublic, CEOs of U.K. companies have been more circumspect abouttheir intentions as the conditions of Brexit remain unclear.

Among the handful of U.K.-based companies that openly raised thepossibility of a move is mobile carrier Vodafone Group Plc, whichsaid in the aftermath of the referendum that it couldn't guaranteethat it would keep its headquarters in the U.K. if the negotiationsproduced an unfavorable outcome.

Low-cost airline EasyJet Plc said it was seeking an operatingcertificate in another EU country in order to ensure unfetteredaccess to the bloc after Brexit. Insurer Lloyd's of London Ltd. mayhave to move some of its operations out of the U.K. if it losesaccess to the single market, Chairman John Nelson has said.

Non-U.K. banks that have significant operations in London havebeen more outspoken about the possibility of moving, withexecutives of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and UBS Group AG warningthat they might have to relocate thousands of jobs.

KPMG interviewed 100 U.K. CEOs of companies with annual sales ofat least 100 million pounds (US$130 million) and at least 500employees. The survey was carried out over four weeks frommid-July.

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