MPs’ arguments over Brexit continue to dominate the headlines. But with the Prime Minister promising to start formal divorce talks with the EU by March 2017 most global companies are now seriously considering their options.

With a hard Brexit, in which Britain accepts much looser economic ties with the EU, firmly on the table, many global manufacturers with UK bases are understandably alarmed.
We’ve already heard Japan warn Britain that its banks, car manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies may have to leave the UK altogether if Brexit leads to the loss of tariff-free trade – now we are seeing Frankfurt and Paris taking active steps to woo companies away from London.
Senior figure in the German car industry are warning that if there’s a ‘hard Brexit’ then we will see a shift to central and south-eastern Europe. They will do everything they can to avoid trade tariffs and restriction of movement in the workforce.
But the fact remains that everything is still up in the air. So what is the smart money doing?
Well in some circles there is talk of actively preparing for the uncertainty by spinning off the UK based parts of some global enterprises. Such a move allows them to keep operating alongside the rest of the company during this period of instability while giving them the flexibility to sell on if things become less favourable.
This is not as hard to achieve as you might think. With the right IT support you can run a spun off company as a satellite or subsidiary using a cloud based system like Business By Design. The beauty of this solution is that each satellite is totally integrated with the rest of the company but is easily broken off should the occasion arise.
In a climate where agility is paramount, this kind of flexibility is a distinct advantage.
If this is something you are considering then we would be more than happy to talk to you about how quickly that can be achieved.
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