Heartened but cautious - British business reacts to May's Brexit plan

One of the country's biggest companies has welcomed the government's proposed Brexit withdrawal agreement as a "positive step forward".

Miles Roberts, chief executive of packaging giant DS Smith (Frankfurt: 877238 - news) , told Sky News he was "heartened" by the deal and by what he saw as efforts to "maintain close economic ties with the European Union".

He also said senior politicians were making efforts to improve relations between the government and business leaders.

Two weeks ago, Mr Roberts was among a group of corporate leaders who attended a meeting with the prime minister and the chancellor at the Guildhall in London.

He says he was briefed by a member of the cabinet about the details of the withdrawal agreement on Wednesday evening.

"Over the past month, we have seen a lot of engagement by the government," he told me.

"We have various ministers and had a variety of calls.

"The government has tried to get closer to business and we welcome that. It's been a positive process.

"From a business point of view, we're quite heartened by their grasp of the critical importance to the UK economy of the relationship with Europe."

DS Smith, in common with many other companies, has previously bemoaned the lack of guidance and information that it received in the two years following the referendum but the withdrawal agreement has offered much-needed clarity on the government's intentions, Mr Roberts said.

"We have had two years of hiatus. In that time the Chinese economy has grown over 10% - and that is a country we're competing against.

"We want clarity, and we're pleased that what has been said over the past week recognises what is important for business. Frictionless trade means jobs."

Mr Roberts' company makes boxes for a host of major retailers, including Amazon and ASOS (LSE: ASC.L - news) . It employs around 32,000 people and is valued at £5bn. It is a member of the FTSE100 index of the UK's biggest firms.

Yet for all his positivity, DS Smith is also an example of how nervousness has bedevilled British business over the past two years.

"We have been holding back on investing," he told me. "Since the referendum as a group we've committed about £4bn, but only £20m has gone into the UK.

"The reason is that we're waiting for the clarity. I don't think anybody would expect us to invest our shareholders' money into the UK while we don't understand what the relationship with Europe will be like in the future.

"Our investments last many years - a factory is there for 50 or 100 years, and it supplies a large market.

"But if you don't know what the market will be - whether it's just the UK, or includes Europe - then that changes the type of investment. So we have to have the clarity.

"We have kept investing elsewhere and waited for clarity in the UK."