Exit from Britain ahead of Brexit

Pin-striped suits are in fashion at Heathrow departures as London’s economy wobbles

The Brexit chickens are coming home to roost for one of the world’s foremost cities — London. According to a Bloomberg report, bankers are leaving the city in large numbers for European destinations such as Frankfurt and Paris.

The reasoning is simple: London will no longer give investment houses access to the European market once the UK steps out of the EU.

Bloomberg says some 9,000 bankers are leaving for “destinations not yet known”, while 2,600 are heading for Frankfurt and 1,400 are off to Paris.

Going to Frankfurt are UBS, Goldman Sachs and Nomura, while HSBC and Société Générale are off to Paris.

Citigroup has also chosen Frankfurt as its new trading hub in the EU.

From the report: “Even as the chance remains for a UK deal maintaining some sort of access to the single market, banks are preparing for the worst and want to have new or expanded offices up and running inside the bloc before the UK formally departs in 2019.”

And Reuters reports that “London’s economy is wobbling from the early effects of Brexit — judging from the capital’s faltering housing market, fewer EU citizens seeking work and weaker job creation, according to a report from the Centre for London think-tank.”

The think-tank reported that unemployment was holding at 5.5%, but that job creation had slowed and a full 15% fewer foreign workers were seeking employment in London than a year ago.

“While no-one knows how Brexit will play out, this new analysis suggests that London’s economy is beginning to wobble,” Centre for London director Ben Rogers is quoted as saying.

Anyone heard from the SA businesses that took up residence in London to be closer to the EU market? There’s a story there somewhere . . .