Sony to move Europe HQ to Netherlands from UK because of Brexit

Lianna Brinded
Photo: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images
Photo: Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Getty Images

Electronics giant Sony is moving its European headquarters from the UK to the Netherlands.

In a statement to news agency AFP, it said that the move was to avoid disruptions caused by Brexit. However, it said that it won’t shift people and operations from the existing UK unit.

The group’s rival Panasonic has already moved its HQ to Amsterdam due to Brexit. Sony’s decision is also the latest in a long line of other Japanese companies and politicians that have voiced concerns over how Brexit would disrupt business in the UK and have shifted and changed operational structures in light of Britain’s impending departure from the European Union. For example:

  • Banks and financial services: The likes of Nomura Holdings, Daiwa Securities, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, have declared that they plan to move main EU bases out of Britain’s capital. While some, like Japanese bank Norinchukin is setting up a new wholly-owned subsidiary in the Netherlands.

  • Carmakers: Toyota and Honda have both said that a no-deal Brexit in particular would hurt investment and both have said they plan to halt production that event.

  • Japanese government: In 2016, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a 15-page document, detailing how Britain’s economy will be severely damaged if it leaves the EU’s single market — something that would happen in the event of a no-deal Brexit — and said it would have a natural knock-on effect on investors that have close trade ties with the UK.

Meanwhile, vacuum cleaner and hair dryer company Dyson is moving its headquarters from Britain to Singapore. Although, Dyson’s CEO Jim Rowan said in a statement that the move was to “future-proof” the business, he said it had “nothing to do with Brexit.”