The standard British English meaning of presently used to be ‘soon’, ‘in a minute’: I'll be with you presently. What used to be thought of as an American or Scottish meaning ‘now’, ‘at present’, or ‘currently’ (He's presently engaged with a client) is becoming increasingly widely used in British English generally. The tense of the verb is usually an indicator of which sense is intended: used with the future tense the meaning is ‘soon’; with the present tense the meaning is ‘now’. Care should be taken to avoid the ambiguity in a sentence such as: He's presently starting a new job