Cllr Mark Dance, Kent County Council’s cabinet member for economic development, is beaming as he addresses companies gathered to hear what the future holds after the Brexit vote.

“We are seeing more and more tourism, which is up 15%, and that is helping our economy,” he said. “The lower pound means more people are coming and getting more bang for their buck.”

He spoke at the 100 Days on from the EU Referendum conference, hosted by the Institute of Directors (IoD) and the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) at KIMS Hospital in Maidstone.

The event was designed to answer questions and quell fears about the road ahead after the vote to leave the bloc of 28 European nations.

“Some companies have benefitted from the change in exchange rates,” said Michael Salmon, an international trade advisor with the Department for International Trade.

“There is a real opportunity for business to look at pricing as well as the cost of business.

“If we focus on managing risks as they impact our business but also look at changes in prices as an opportunity, we can move forward.

“Organisations that export tend to be more successful and more resilient when there’s an economic downturn.”

Not all speakers at the event last month were confident.

“We don’t want to breach the two-year window after triggering Article 50 without an agreement or an extension in place,” said Alexandra Renison, IoD policy lead on Brexit.

“We are most worried about complacency from the Government about what happens if we don’t reach an agreement. That is something we are campaigning hard against.

“There is an impact of non-action and non-decision making which could be momentous in the long term...” - Alexandra Renison, IoD

“There is an impact of non-action and non-decision making which could be momentous in the long term.”

On the campaign trail before the vote on June 23, many on the remain side warned of great damage to the UK economy in the event of Brexit. Since then, most official data has shown a limited impact from the vote.

The UK services sector grew 0.4% in July while retail sales fell just 0.2% in August and were up 6.2% compared to a year ago, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Yet Tonbridge and Malling MP Tom Tugendhat, a remain campaigner before the vote, said access to trade and labour may yet prove to be a difficult situation for the Government to address.

He said: “It’s simply not true you can be a member of the single market and not accept free movement of people. Some people say we will get around it because we are a big market.

“We are a big market but so is the rest of the EU. What they are looking at now is how they can keep the bloc together.”

Gavin Tyler, managing partner of Tunbridge Wells law firm Cripps, told bosses at the conference the best action was to “keep moving”.

He said: “Pension funds need to keep spending their investors’ money. Property stock is seen as a valuable asset class and in the aftermath of the referendum we saw many real estate transactions aborted but not a massive amount.

“We have not had the wholesale fall in house prices predicted and I don’t think we will do. The fall in housebuilders’ shares has pretty much clawed its way back now.

“There has been a reduction in availability of development finance and if mortgage lending falls away that would be a big issue but so far it is not massively impactful.

“We say keep moving. The key thing is to maintain momentum.”