Dutch Gov’t Lures Firms Leaving UK

Sweet tax deals, a business-friendly climate and an English-speaking population. The Netherlands is going all out to attract companies leaving Britain post-Brexit in search of a new EU-based home, AFP reported. With less than a year before Britain formally leaves the European Union at midnight on March 29, 2019, the Dutch government has deployed a small army of lobbyists hoping to persuade companies to pick Rotterdam or Amsterdam over Paris or Frankfurt for their new base. Via the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency, an official arm of the economic affairs ministry, the Dutch government is currently “in touch with more than 200 companies,” spokesman Michiel Bakhuizen said. “These are companies wishing to leave Britain or international businesses who are looking to set up in an EU country, and from now on, have to avoid London.” So far things have been going well, from a Dutch perspective. Last month the Anglo-Dutch consumer products giant Unilever decided to end its dual-headed legal structure, severing its London base and regrouping around its headquarters in Rotterdam.