Ferry and logistics operator DFDS has many activities and 2,200 employees in the U.K., placing it at the heart of the ongoing “Brexit” process following the U.K.’s vote to leave the EU and making the firm an early indicator of changes in trade and passenger movements.
In a post on its website, the Danish based firm addressed Brexit’s immediate and long-term impact, stating that it has seen little to no effect on trade so far.
“We also discuss our experiences and expectations from the Brexit situation with customers. In general, our joint view is that so far, we have seen no or very limited effect of Brexit on trade. Neither do we foresee any major decline of trade in the near future. Recently, the Bank of England adjusted their growth expectations upwards to 2 percent in 2017, and our experience is that when the economy grows then freight volumes will also grow,” said Eddie Green, Executive Vice President and Head of DFDS’ logistics division.
Some effects of course will not be immediate. Any changes to trade tariffs, for example, will not take effect for at least two years or longer, and the same goes for changes to conditions for foreign nationals working in the U.K. and the EU, DFDS noted.
“There are also still some uncertainties as to when a Brexit will actually occur. Although the British Prime Minister has set a deadline of March 31, 2017 to invoke Article 50 and commence Brexit negotiations, it is not expected that the U.K. will leave the EU for at least two years and negotiations on the finer details could take longer. In addition to this, we support the view that in reality, everyone is benefitting from trade, and therefore we believe that all political groups and nations will share an interest in protecting and stimulating trade,” Green said.
So far, the major change caused by the Brexit vote has been a depreciation of the British pound, which the company said has impacted some trade flows, but not overall volumes. According to DFDS, the impact has been more noticeable on the passenger side as it has become more expensive for U.K. citizens to travel abroad while London has seen a rise in tourists on shopping sprees.