Boom in EU finance firms opening satellite offices in the UK
Managed services provider eacs is reporting a ten-fold increase in enquiries for support from businesses looking to open new satellite offices in the UK and UK based businesses looking to gain a footprint in the EU.
Specifically, the overwhelming number of leads coming into eacs are from financial services businesses looking to open offices in the UK for the first time. On the converse, the MSP is also reporting that many of its existing customers are looking to open in mainland Europe to ease burden of the new regulations and paperwork requirements. A majority of these customers are predominantly in the pharmaceutical, agricultural and food markets who routinely have to export their products to Europe.
Kevin Timms, chairman and chief executive of eacs, commented: “This uplift in sales opportunities is as unexpected as it is welcome, given the uncertainty surrounding the impact of Brexit and the continued situation concerning Covid-19. Only recently a Freedom of Information request from financial consultancy Bovill, found a staggering 1,500 money managers, payment firms and insurers have applied for permission to continue operating in the UK post-Brexit. What Bovill found is what we are seeing and hearing on the ground.
“What is now clear is that many of these firms will be opening up in the UK for the first time and that is leading to an uplift in enquiries and sales for IT suppliers such as ourselves.”
Bovill’s analysis of the FOI request with the Financial Conduct Authority found that more than 400 insurance firms as well as more than 100 banks plan to move to or increase their presence in the UK.
Founded in 1994, eacs has become the leader in supplying practical, innovative and cost-effective Managed Services and IT Solutions to mid-market businesses across all sectors.
Timms continued: “But this is not a one-way street. What we are seeing a number of UK based businesses going in the other direction, predominantly in food, agriculture and logistics, setting up remote offices in the EU. Brexit has undeniably had an impact on business and arguably one no-one saw coming.
“The pandemic has also had a major role to play. If there is any positive that can come out of this awful time, it is that businesses are now more aware, more educated and more prepared to take the leap into the cloud. Supporting distributed enterprises and remote working are the two big asks we are seeing right now and that is applicable to existing customers or new leads from either side of the Channel,” concluded Timms.
