Companies Press Brexit Panic Button to Hit Theresa May | Business

A series of announcements relating to damage limitation have clearly highlighted the scale of panic without the agreement that preoccupies large companies. She said she was about to lose patience with Westminster's stalemate.

Sir James Dyson, the billionaire defending Brexit, has dealt a new blow to the government by revealing that he is transferring the seat of his business to Singapore, which has aroused sharp criticism.

Dyson's decision to move its headquarters out of the UK was taken a day during which a series of well-known names revealed measures to mitigate the effects of a disordered departure from the EU:

• P & O has announced that its entire fleet of cross-Channel ferries will be re-registered under the Cyprus flag, with the 182-year-old British maritime operator having activated its plans for Brexit.

• Sony has confirmed the transfer of its European headquarters in Europe from London to Amsterdam.

• The general manager of luxury car manufacturer Bentley said the company was storing spare parts and described Brexit as a "killer" threatening the profitability of its business.

• Dixons Carphone and Pets at Home retailers have announced plans to beef up supplies in case of chaos in British ports.

P & O, which began operations as a Peninsular and Eastern steamship company in 1837, announced that its six cross-Channel ferries would be re-registered with the UK registry in Cyprus in order to retain the EU tax benefits. . Ferries include the Spirit of Britain, Pride of Kent and Pride of Canterbury.

"Before Britain left the European Union on March 29, 2019, we undertook a review of the flag status of our ships on the Channel," said a P & O spokesman.

"For operational and accounting reasons, we concluded that the best way to proceed is to replace all vessels with the Cyprus flag."

The boss of Pets at Home, the largest pet supplier in the country, said his company started storing basic necessities, including cat food, because "we do not want families lack of food for their pets "after Brexit, March 29th.

Sir James Dyson did not participate in a media event during which his company announced the transfer of its head office to Wiltshire. Dyson, who was one of the main supporters of the holiday campaign and who urged ministers to leave the UK without an agreement stating that they "will come to us", did not explained why he takes the seat of the company that he founded in 1991.

The general manager of Dyson, Jim Rowan, said that the move from Wiltshire to Singapore had "nothing to do with Brexit" but aimed to "protect the future of the company". The move from UK-based Dyson to Singapore "will happen in the coming months", which means it could take place before Brexit.

The decision to leave the UK was made by Sir James with "the management team," Dyson said. Sir James, who owns 100% of the company, has accumulated a personal wealth of 9.5 billion pounds, making it the 12th richest person in Britain according to the list of the richest people of the Sunday Times.

A spokesman for the 71-year-old billionaire said that he "would continue to divide his time between Singapore and the UK, according to market needs".

Rowan said that settling in Singapore was part of the "evolution" of the company. When asked if Dyson could still be considered one of Britain's best achievements, he said the company should now be considered a "global technology company." When he was prime minister, David Cameron called Dyson "a great British achievement".

Phantom Secretary Rebecca Long Bailey called Dyson's decision "a severe blow to the government's industrial strategy," adding:

"For too long, the government has allowed a culture of the short term to take root in some of our largest UK companies, while those who do the right thing and invest in their communities and their workforce long term are lacking, with few resources. government support. "

Liberal Democrat Layla Moran said, "It's a staggering hypocrisy for the businessman, James Dyson, who supports Brexit. It is absolutely incredible that the commercial face of Brexit is still transferring another part of its business outside the UK.

Sir James is not the first pro-Brexit billionaire to withdraw from the UK since the referendum. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the richest man in the United Kingdom with a fortune of £ 21 billion, had planned to leave Britain for Monaco.

Carolyn Fairbairn, Director General of the CBI, said the litany of commercials should send a clear and simple message to politicians. "A March no-deal should be ruled out immediately," she said. "It's the only way to stop irreversible damage and restore business confidence."

Theresa May told private-sector lobbyists Tuesday that she was refusing to rule out a "no deal", as she was trying to convince reluctant MPs to back her plan for Brexit in New York. baderting that the only way to avoid a crime of exit from the EU is to subscribe to its proposals. . That amounted to reprimanding Chancellor Philip Hammond, who had suggested last week that a Brexit without an agreement would be removed from the table during another conference call with 330 company executives.

Claire Walker, Co-Executive Director of Policy at the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC), said it was worrisome that companies be left "black" on the Brexit and be forced to activate plans. 39th emergency for 29th March.

Adrian Hallmark, chief executive of Bentley, said the luxury automaker was about to return to profits this year, but would not do so in case of hard Brexit. He added that stopping production at the Crewe plant would cost Volkswagen-owned businesses millions of pounds a day.

"It's the Brexit who's the killer," he told Reuters. "If we ended up with a difficult Brexit … it would hit us this year, because we have the potential to go beyond the breakeven point to make the recovery. This would fundamentally compromise our chances of becoming profitable. "

Peter Pritchard, the boss of Pets at Home, which has 450 stores across the country, has announced that he has activated an emergency storage plan in the amount of 8 million pounds sterling. "We do not want families to eat food for their animals," he said.

Sony has confirmed the merger of its London-based European unit with a new Amsterdam-based entity that will become the new continental headquarters. Sony said: "In this way, we can continue our business as usual without disruption once the UK leaves the EU."

Carphone Dixons revealed Tuesday that they have worked with vendors on a backup plan aimed at boosting its stocks of televisions and laptops. "We can not rule out that there is a form of interruption," said Jonny Mason, chief financial officer at Dixons. "If there is, we are as well prepared as possible. Some suppliers have introduced stocks in the country so that it gets closer to what needs to be for us. "

Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Majestic Wine and Mr. Kipling's first owner are also stockpiles of alcohol, sachets and canned goods in case Great Britain crashes out of the European Union and that trucks would be piled up on both sides of the Channel.