We did a quick survey of our banker clients and in every single case the attitude was “Are you joking, there is no way we are going anywhere. The kids are in school, we speak English not French or German and my husband loves shopping on the high street :)”
There's no doubt that if we leave the EU some jobs will move but will it be the carnage that they are predicting, it seems unlikely… it's more media hype than actual planning from the banks to up and leave.
Video Transcription
Brett: Hi, guys. So this is Property Rant, I'm Brett Alegre-Wood. So what I wanna talk about, we've just had Brexit come out, and Theresa May talking about it. Hey, Rit.
Ritesh: Hi.
Brett: Guys, this is Ritesh. So Ritesh has been running one of our teams, our property consultant teams for about eight years?
Ritesh: Yeah.
Brett: He deals with clients all the time, knows them really, really well, dealing with a lot of city professionals, so London professionals. On that matter, Brexit, you know, are your guys, when you're speaking to them, they're saying are they expecting to up tools and go somewhere else, Paris, Ireland, Dubai, all those places, what's your thoughts?
Ritesh: No, no. Actually, I've been speaking to a lot of my clients who are working in the city since the decision came about last summer. And to be fair, yeah, there was initially a lot of noise about it and what's gonna happen, but actually, when you speak to all of them, they're like, “Look, Ritesh, we're not going nowhere.” The reality is, especially a lot of the senior guys, they've got families here, they've got kids in school, education, they're settled. They got the support here. And they're not going anywhere. So, to be fair, yes, there's uncertainty about it, we'll see how it pans out, you know, but, they're not going anywhere.
Brett: Yeah. And what about…so from a business perspective, I mean you, obviously…they're not going anywhere, but if they got the choice of leaving the job or moving overseas, what are they… Are they saying why they're not going anywhere? I mean, if they get a cushy job in a…what's…?
Ritesh: Well, the main thing…one of the main things that come up is the fact where would they go. I mean, language barriers, you know? You know, let's say France, for example. Their kids can go to school there, they have to speak French. Can their kids speak French?
Brett: Too much cheese and bread. Yeah, so pretty much they're not going anywhere, you think?
Ritesh: Yep.
Brett: And look, you know, we're the fifth-largest economy in the world. That's not really gonna change, so what other choices they have in actually… There's not really too many options, is there?
Ritesh: Well, look, you're absolutely right. We are the fifth-largest economy. You know, we're a world city, that doesn't change. It's not about to change. In fact, you know, if Brexit happens, we're gonna be looking into global trade. So things…
Brett: Well, that was Theresa May, so coming back to my original video that was supposed to be, you know, global. And we're gonna be a global city. We already are a global city, so yeah. But, you know, there'll be for every opportunity that we lose in Europe, we'll probably gain an opportunity in America or Singapore or China, or who knows where? There are hundreds of different countries, and I believe there are 20 countries that have already put their best foot forward and said, “Hey, we'll deal with you.” So I think that's a massive plus there. No, cool, all right. Well, mate, thank you very much.
Ritesh: Thank you.
Brett: All right, guys. Okay, have a great day and live with passion.
