business

Sony to shift European headquarters from UK to Netherlands to avoid Brexit disruption

22 Comments
By Josep Lago

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22 Comments
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That makes sense, they should just move to the African market, markets growing heavily. EU and UK is almost bankrupt..

-11 ( +4 / -15 )

This is what the pro-Brexiters voted for. Keep the foreigners out of Jolly Old England. There you go.

14 ( +19 / -5 )

No big deal. Now, let's get a no-deal Brexit done and dusted!

-7 ( +4 / -11 )

@klausdorth Dyson also moved their HQ to Singapore due to this.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

This is just the first nail in the Sony UK coffin and perhaps that of the UK too.

-1 ( +6 / -7 )

I think some people have only just read the headline before commenting. As the artice says:

"the only change we will make is the change of registered location of the company"

This is a sensible move as the UK is leaving the EU. People would question the sense of the those running the business if they didn't do this. Some people who comment on these types of articles can't seem to distinguish between wanting sensible controls over immigration and having foreign companies operating in the UK.

@Kag

Dyson has moved to Singapore, not the EU. Kind of a big difference.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

P&O Ferries, one of the largest contributors to the Conservative Party in Margaret Thatcher's days, has reregistered their ships to the Cyprus flag to remain in the EU. One of the ships is called the "Spirit of Britain".

7 ( +8 / -1 )

So Dyson wanted Brexit, then moved to a country which has free trade agreements with Japan and The EU. Was the support to screw the competition???

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Dyson also moved their HQ to Singapore due to this.

Not entirely. Most of Dysons customers are in Asia and so it's manufacturing base is in Malaysia, makes sense. Why don't the Poms ask the pro Brexit leaders to fix it? That twit Boris and Nigel Farage, they promised millions of pounds freed up for the NHS, where are they?

6 ( +7 / -1 )

As the largest English speaking country in Europe with a world-class banking and legal system, Britain has always been the prefered destination for a disproportionate amount of foreign direct investment into the EU. This will obviously change now that companies have no other choice. Countries like the Netherlands and Ireland stand to benefit most.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Sony, however, will not move personnel and operations from the existing UK company to the Netherlands, and "the only change we will make is the change of registered location of the company", he added.

And of course the profits, which will now be sent to and taxed in Germany.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Doesn't Sony know that England doesn't need Sony, Sony needs England? England doesn't need Panasonic, Panasonic needs England. England doesn't need the EU, the EU needs England. The whole world needs England more than England needs them. After the liberation from the tyrannical EU regime, the whole world will flock to the mighty England and beg for trade deals that benefit and serve the interests of England. God save the queen. God is English. dies.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Great Sony.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Big wrong, backstabbing and ungraceful. What did UK do wrong to deserve such a punishment ?

-6 ( +0 / -6 )

Mayhem's gnomic mantra sez "Brexit means Brexit, but isn't it a no brainer that crashing out of the EU without a deal is a non-starter? In the real world the true equation is no-deal Brexit = NO BREXIT period! The UK will remain and the dust will soon settle. Sorted!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

It's pretty clear that Sony's move is to avoid bureaucracy of customs post-brexit. I doubt there will be any major impact to presence in Britain though.

The Japanese finance firms threatening to move to Europe are bluffing with an empty hand. Why would they move out of the finance hub of the world? People tend to forget that Britain has 5th largest economy in the world, not to mention the influence UK has over the commonwealth.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Hi @crazygaijin

Perhaps we could mention that the HQ for Renault/Mitsubishi/Nissan

is also in the Netherlands, a coincidence or the start of a trend, and if you thought English was hard try Dutch !

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@Will Goode

First of all, UK and the Netherlands have been close economic partners since the colonial days, and I doubt that is about to change. As for Japanese companies moving to Europe, it depends a lot on their product and the strength of the currencies. Financial firms have nothing to gain by moving out of the UK except for a headache. It's normal for car manufacturers to reside in Europe because it makes logistics a lot more viable. Also, Europe doesn't want to the UK to leave the EU for a few reasons, one of them being that UK, after Germany is the 5th largest economy, so the "single market" takes a huge impact in terms of size and potential if the UK leaves.

I'm no Brexiteer by any means, but I do know that even if UK leaves the EU then both the Netherlands and Japan will still conduct lots of trade with the UK. Not only that but deals will probably be struct quickly between the states to make trade a lot more desirable and controlled, and that will be beneficial for everyones economy.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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