The WTTC joins a growing list of businesses that have shifted operations from the UK to the EU since the 2016 referendum.
The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has announced plans to close its London headquarters and relocate to mainland Europe. It is the latest major organisation to cite Brexit as a factor in abandoning Britain.
The WTTC is made up of members from the global business community and works with governments to raise awareness about the travel and tourism industry. It has been located in the British capital since it was founded in 1990.
The Council is reportedly consulting London-based staff over potential redundancies and is considering a move to Madrid or another city in Spain, Switzerland, or Italy. The relocation, it says, would offer “lower operational costs and EU single market access.”
WTTC chairman Manfredi Lefebvre said Brexit was “one of the main factors” behind the decision: “The benefits of a European head office include lower operational costs, EU single market access and recruitment flexibility of a multilingual talent pool,” he said.
“The high standard of research services our members, governments and the stakeholders around the world receive will continue to be at the forefront of our work and we are confident we will attract high-quality talent in the wider European market, for all of our services to members globally.”
The WTTC joins a growing list of businesses that have shifted operations from the UK to the EU since the 2016 referendum. In 2022, consultancy Ernst & Young (EY) reported that 44 percent of the UK’s largest financial services companies, 97 out of 222, had announced plans to move some operations or staff to the EU, nearly double the figure from 2017.
Earlier research found that by 2019, one in three British firms were exploring overseas moves due to Brexit-related challenges.
“The UK’s hard-won reputation as a stable, predictable environment for enterprise is being chipped away,” said IoD interim boss Edwin Morgan.
Dr Mike Galsworthy, chair of European Movement UK, said: ‘If they do undertake this move, then they can be added to a depressing list of HQs that have departed the UK for Europe over Brexit.
“Such as the European Medicines Agency, which was based in London with its over £300m taxable annual revenue, or the European Banking Authority, or the European headquarters of Sony and Panasonic, or the moves of Lloyds and Barclays over Brexit’s loss of “passporting rights.”
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