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By Kate Holton
LONDON, June 28 (Reuters) - Britain is heading for aneconomic disaster and Chinese investors have already pulledinvestments in the wake of Britain's vote to exit the EuropeanUnion, Richard Branson, the boss of Virgin Group said.
The billionaire entrepreneur said hisairline-through-finance group had cancelled a "very big" dealsince the vote which would have involved some 3,000 jobs.
He also said some Chinese businesses were now reconsideringtheir business strategy in Britain. Several top economists,including at Goldman Sachs, say the referendum decision couldtrigger a recession within the year.
"I met with a group of Chinese businessmen yesterday morningwho have invested heavily in England and who are now going tostop investing and withdraw investments they've already made,"Branson told the Guardian newspaper.
Branson's comments came as other business leaders spelt outthe impact of turmoil in global markets and the collapse insterling. The pound fell to a 31-year low against the dollarfollowing Friday's vote, but has recovered slightly.
Warren East, chief executive of Rolls-Royce, Britain'sbiggest manufacturer, told a conference organised by the Timesnewspaper on Tuesday that while day-to-day operations would notbe affected, a lack of visibility was the company's biggestchallenge.
"The uncertainty will last years, not months," he said.
Rolls Royce, which supplies aircraft engines to Boeing andAirbus, generates two-thirds of its revenue outside of the28-member bloc.
Martin Sorrell, chief executive of the world's biggestadvertising group WPP, said Brexit would accelerate thecompany's existing strategy of placing a greater focus on fastgrowing emerging markets and digital business.
"The implications for jobs in the short term are serious,"he said, adding that it could take 10 years for Britain torenegotiate new trade agreements.
OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
Other CEOs stressed the collapse of valuations and the fallin the value of the pound would open up new avenues.
Guo Guangchang, the billionaire co-founder and chairman ofFosun Group, China's biggest private conglomerate which owns astake in British travel company Thomas Cook, told Reutersthat the group's interest in investing in Britain and Europe hadincreased in the wake of the British referendum.
"Volatility is a friend not an enemy. Market volatility andpanic will probably bring better investment opportunities. So weare increasingly looking for development opportunities in Europeand particularly in the UK," Guo said.
A weaker pound could benefit some, with online grocer Ocado saying it could help it secure a long-awaited overseaslicensing deal and spell an end to food price deflation whichhas held back sales for British supermarket chains.
Dido Harding, chief executive of mobile operator TalkTalk, struck a note of defiance: "What doesn't kill youmakes you stronger. I refuse to be doom and gloom."
Gavin Patterson, chief executive of BT, however, saidsome British businesses would fail.
"I see this as a moment of opportunity there are goingto be businesses that don't make it through this (the falloutfrom Brexit)," he said. (Additional reporting by Michael Holden, James Davey and AndrewMacAskill in London and Jason Subler in Beijing; Writing byAlexander Smith; Editing by Jon Boyle)
