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Two out of five US firms considering leaving UK in wake of Brexit, report says Brexit: 40% of US firms with British offices are considering relocation to the EU
(about 9 hours later)
Two out of five US firms with a base in this country are considering moving elsewhere in Europe because of Brexit, a report shows. Nearly 40 per cent of US businesses with a base in the UK say they are considering moving elsewhere in the EU because of Brexit, according to a report, warning that the vote to leave could also hit trade relations between Britain and America.
Research by international law firm Gowling WLG also revealed that more than half of US companies which export to the EU are more likely to bypass the UK following the referendum result. The survey by international law firm Gowling WLG also found that two-thirds of the 533 US firms polled said the UK’s vote to the leave the EU is already impacting investments choices in the country.
The study of more than 500 company executives of US firms, most having a UK base, showed differences in sectors, with those in food and beverage, life sciences and financial services most likely to consider relocating, and aerospace least likely. Food and beverage, life sciences and financial services firms were most likely to consider relocating whilst aerospace firms were the least likely, the survey has found.
Uncertainties surrounding Brexit, in particular the delay caused by issues such as Article 50, are threatening trading links between the UK and the US, said the report. Half of the surveyed firms said that they might bypass the UK to do business directly with the EU.
Bernardine Adkins, of Gowling WLG, said: “The strong UK-US trade relationship that has been carefully nurtured over the past 50 years is in serious jeopardy. Bernardine Adkins, the company’s head of EU, Trade and Competition, said: "The strong UK-US trade relationship that has been carefully nurtured over the past fifty years is in serious jeopardy,"
“This is despite a wide consensus amongst US firms that the unique dynamics of the UK market and its access to the rest of the EU drive their preference for doing business here. "Concerns that Brexit will have an effect on current investment decisions mean this needs addressing now, not later."
“Concerns that Brexit will have an effect on current investment decisions mean this needs addressing now, not later.” The survey results comes as Theresa May’s government is under pressure to publish a plan setting out her objectives and promising MPs a vote on the final “divorce deal”.
Press Association Labour agreed to back the Prime Minister’s timetable to start Brexit talks in March 2017 but insisted Mrs May should first publish a detailed negotiating strategy.
Leading international UK-based banks fear that a hard Brexit will result in the UK leaving Europe’s single market and therefore signal the loss of crucial passporting rights, which allow them to sell their services freely across the rest of the EU and give firms based in Europe unfettered access to Britain.
The loss of these rights could be devastating to the City of London as nearly 5,500 firms registered in the UK use passporting rights to operate in other countries.
Paris is among a number of European cities seeking to woo firms considering a move away from London to maintain their access to EU markets, and faces competition from Dublin, Frankfurt and Luxembourg, among others.
Additional reporting by agencies