Hundreds of companies are in talks with the Dutch government about relocating due to worries about access to the EU market after Brexit goes down. A few prominent companies have already made the decision to move.
Brexit, and, more specifically, its uncertainty, is a major motivator for businesses to leave the UK and head overseas to the Netherlands. Last year, Panasonic announced plans to relocate to Amsterdam, and recently Sony, citing Brexit, communicated its decision to move over as well.
According to the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA), it is in contact with over 250 businesses which are considering relocating to the Netherlands. In 2017, this figure was only 80 and rose to 150 at the start of 2018.
The number of businesses wanting to move to the land of tulips and windmills is expected to grow before the final figures are released next month. A spokesperson for the NFIA said, “every new arrival of a business, big or small, is a success”.
Another major player the UK has lost out on is the European Medicines Agency, which employs around 900 highly skilled workers. The agency will now establish itself in Amsterdam. The Netherlands is not the only country to benefit from Brexit, as many finance companies have also decided to move operations and staff across the pond to locations such as Dublin, Luxembourg, Paris and Frankfurt.
Whilst it seems as though the Netherlands is profiting greatly from Brexit due to the escalating interest in it as a business destination, the extra businesses that do decide to relocate are only ameliorating the negative effects that Brexit is going to have on the Netherlands. The outcome of Brexit is still uncertain, but when it comes to British resident’s rights, the country is preparing for a no deal.