Historic Lincolnshire firm to quit UK after Brexit fears

A Lincolnshire fancy dress firm is reportedly on the verge of moving its headquarters away from the UK, saying it “can’t afford to wait for Brexit”.

Smiffys, which has been trading in Lincolnshire for 122 years, is set to open its new headquarters in the Netherlands after its expressed anxiety over the cost of hard Brexit.

Some 40% of Smiffys sales go to the European Union, and its managing director says the move is an act of prudence.

Elliot Peckett told The Independent newspaper: “The Government proclaim that they want to encourage Britain to export, but pursuing this hard Brexit approach has simply pulled the chair from beneath us and left us dangling. The simple answer is that we cannot afford to wait.

“During that time [the negotiating process], not only will Smiffys have lost valuable EU sales due to this uncertainty, as we are already experiencing, but we will have lost the opportunity to have acted to protect what are vital sales to our company.

“Moreover, the fact that the pound is now at a 168-year record low against the dollar, according to the Bank of England, sums up the outlook for the UK economy under the approach that the Government are taking on Brexit.”

Smiffys is headquartered in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, but also has an operation in Leeds. Before joining the EU, Smiffys exported only a fraction of its goods to Europe.

Peckett added: “Smiffys have no choice but to protect our business by moving our headquarters to the EU. This will allow us to continue growing our trade to the EU, from within the single market.”

Peckett said that life outside of the EU would “a step step back in time”.

Smiffys posted its annual results on 1 October. For the year-ending 31 December 2015 the firm turned over just over £56m and made profits of £1.89m – down from £3.3m in 2014.