Brexit was the hot topic of the largest business exhibition in the South East.

About 3,000 people were expected at the Kent Vision Live show at the Kent Showground in Detling on Wednesday, where more than 300 companies gathered to promote themselves and make new contacts.

A packed conference room heard ITV political editor Robert Peston give his views on the “Brexit bombshell” early in the morning.

He described how firms need to lift their productivity to ride out the bumpy period of the negotiations and how the failure of globalisation to spread wealth evenly led to the leave vote and the rise of Donald Trump in the USA.

The Institute of Directors chief economist James Sproule followed with a discussion of whether business could carry on as usual after Britain leaves the EU.

He later hosted an invitation-only Brexit Networking Lunch, where a panel of experts were quizzed about what will happen to migrant workers, border controls and whether the UK is heading for a “hard Brexit” .

Mr Sproule said: “Britain will come to terms with Brexit before the EU project in Brussels.

“It could be a success but let’s make sure that is the case.”

Former England world cup winner Mike Tindall posed for pictures at the Hospitality Finder stand.

The day’s second keynote speaker was Chapel Down chief executive Frazer Thompson, who told the story of the rise of Chapel Down Wines, shortly after the finalists for KEiBA 2017 were revealed.

Yet the hot topic of the day remained the UK’s exit from the EU.

Professor Richard Whitman of the University of Kent told bosses that “political uncertainty and unpredictability is the new normal in British politics”.

He added: “I don’t think the government has used the period of time it’s had up until now to do decent preparation.

“They could have had studies looking at immigration, business and the like. We are not having a national conversation but just a rerun of the remainer remoaner conversation.”

Erol Huseyin, a partner at Maidstone law firm Brachers, said: “There will be a lot of untangling of legislation over the coming years.

“Bringing European laws into English laws is going to give rise to a number of issues.

“A number of laws are not going to be appropriate and all the negotiations are about how we will interact with the EU but not the rest of the world, which is currently channeled through the EU.”