Brexit Deal Will Not Stop Businesses From Leaving The UK
United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May maybe closing in on a Brexit deal, but the exodus of companies continues.
Large multinational corporations and SMEs have relocated or branched out into the European Union as a result of the uncertainty with Brexit.
In August, Japanese manufacturer Panasonic announced that its headquarters in U.K will be moving to the Netherlands. Japanese retailer Muji is also speculated to be relocating its European headquarters from the U.K to Germany.
Likewise, Japanese banks Nomura and Daiwa have already setup E.U operations in Germany.
On Tuesday, CME Group Inc. announced that the company is transferring its $240 billion-a-day short-term financing market to Amsterdam from London.
Meanwhile German ball bearings manufacturer Schaeffler AG announced the closure of three British plants.
Surgical appliances manufacturer Steris Plc is on the same path and plans to move its headquarters from the U.K. to Ireland.
In order to break the Brexit negotiations stalemate, May is reportedly willing to extend the transition period.
The extension will allow companies and people from both sides to prepare for new set up which is proposed to last 21 months. The period will commence on the start of Brexit day on March 2019 up to the end of 2020.
The trade deal that May is working on has been riddled with fudged and postponed decisions.
The delays have left the members of the Cabinet in a quandary. There is now the possibility that the guarantees May is offering will forever bind Britain into the European Union’s trading system.
This is a scenario that companies are in favor of, however, pro-Brexit politicians are up in arms against it.
It is clear that regardless of the outcome of May’s negotiations in Brussels, the uncertainty that has broken business confidence since the referendum in 2016 will continue to linger.
Companies know that a deal will only buy them time. The proposed two-year grace period will maintain the status quo but after 2020 they fear they won’t be able to avoid another cliff-edge.
These large, profitable companies would rather leave Britain now than allow Brexiteers to get in their way.
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