"The right approach is not to rush ahead without doing the ground work, but to take the time to get our negotiating position clear before we proceed," May said of the government's approach to Brexit in her speech to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), as quoted by The Guardian newspaper.
The prime minister acknowledged the people's hopes for a transitional deal that might help the United Kingdom retain access to the single market, the perk of the EU membership that was especially important to the members of the UK business community.
"I understand the point that Paul [Drechsler, CBI president] has made, others have made this point, that people don’t want a cliff edge, they want to know with some certainty how things are going to go forward," May said, according to The Guardian.
Media and business community have since debated the possibility of a "hard" Brexit, which could mean the exclusion from the single market, hiking of the tariffs on imports and exports and other negative consequences for the United Kingdom.