Leading British business figures have suggested that it will be very difficult for any trade deal with the EU to be completed, prior to Britain’s exit from the union by the end of March 2019. Former chief executive of Sainsbury's, Justin King noted that he didn’t believe that "there's any possibility at all" of a deal being done “to any level of detail or quality.” Failure to meet the deadline would mean the government would have to either exit the talks without a deal or extend talks longer and enter a transitional period.