In a video message, Airbus CEO Tom Enders has again urged UK decision makers to avoid a no-deal Brexit.
The world’s second-largest aerospace group employs 14,000 people in Britain, including 6,000 at its main wings factory at Broughton, Wales, and 3,000 in Filton, western England, where wings are designed and supported.
You can watch the video message here.
He praised the UK for having been at the forefront of global aviation for more than a century, but states that a no-deal Brexit will lead to Airbus making “potentially very harmful decisions for its operations in the UK”.
Enders condemned the uncertainty over the UK’s arrangements as a “disgrace” and describes any suggestion that the scale of Airbus’s large production operation assures its UK presence as incorrect.
“Please don’t listen to the Brexiteers’ madness which asserts that, because we have huge plants here, we will not move and we will always be here,” Enders said in a statement released by Airbus.
“They are wrong.
“Of course, it is not possible to pick up and move our large UK factories to other parts of the world immediately. However, aerospace is a long-term business and we could be forced to redirect future investments in the event of a no-deal Brexit.”
Katherine Bennett CBE, Senior Vice President for Airbus in the UK, adds:
“We fear some MPs see no-deal as a genuine option and for this reason we’re speaking out louder than ever before because this is too important a moment to let pass without some truths being known.”
Airbus is one of the largest commercial aerospace employers in the UK and its biggest civil aerospace exporter; the biggest supplier of helicopters in the country; the UK’s largest space company and provider of military satellite communications and bills itself as the biggest supplier of large aircraft to the Royal Air Force.
And he’s right.
Yep. It’s not just airbus. Sony and Panasonic and p&o and Dyson are already shifting. The medicines and backing agencies are going too. There’ll be more. The pride and confidence we have in our country does not keep people their jobs. They are separate issues.
Dyson having been a lead proponent of Brexit is a huge hypocritic. Having promoted he should be sticking here sink or swim. As with Boris, Davies et al. seems was quite happy to promote it but when actually happens quietly moves out of the limelight and looks after own personal interests.
Dyson just tripled his UK work force to over 4000, he is only sending two UK executives to Singapore! He’s just making the most of the opportunity of cheap labour and huge markets in the Far East. He will be staying in the UK.
DYSON is a global player . He doesn’t design stuff in his shed anymore ( or was that Trevor Bayliss and the wind up radio) Anyway, as said he is moving some execs only to maximise the push into the Far East.
And full manufacturing + some design = net loss to uk industry
Apart from being the archetypal creep I consider him to be a trator.
Some like Dyson are moving more out of fear of UK politics shifting left. Handing over 10% of a company you built from scratch and higher tax bill are great incentives to move to a business friendly environment. Brexit is a great cover for moving without making your decision political.
Dyson is moving so he does not have to pay tax…simple as.
Dyson is merely responding to the dynamics of the world economy. To be really competitive you have to operate on a global basis. Even the likes of Boeing and Lockheed Martin operate this way. But as far as Britain’s membership of the EU is concerned, Dyson is well and truly ‘living in a vacuum’! Sorry…
Blue passports & we can make up any trade we lose by selling to fiji….
the usual Brexiters response…
Currently you have a pretty short supply chain, eg Kitts Green to Wales for wing spars. Moving production and keeping costs low would also mean moving suppliers, renegotiating contracts (an airbus specialty) and generally screwing up their operations. All at a time when they’ve just been unable to fulfill the A400M contract they initially promised, with Boeing making noises about being keen to take over if they leave.
Might not be too wise for Airbus to rock that boat.
Airbus are being used as a bargining chip on both sides. The UK knows they cannot up sticks and leave immediately and that the EU are unlikely to put in obstacles that screws up their production line. But if there is no deal you can bet the EU will tell them they have x number of years to move all production out of the UK. All re-location costs would likely be funded through the EU or countries themselves trying to attract jobs.
Moving AIRBUS wing production and the associated cost of doing it would make a huge hit on their bottom line. Boeing would be rubbing their hands with glee at the ensuing chaos and cost over runs that would develop.
They won’t do it immediately but if there is no deal it will happen.
Highly likely that this outburst from Airbus is at the behest of Phillip Hammond. The biggest problem arising from his back room shenanigans is that all the gloom and doom becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.
Even if you’re right, do you think that leave supporting MPs aren’t involved in back room deals? There’s back room stuff going on on both sides, Davis and Johnson are being paid by JCB for example. However the weight of evidence is that leaving with no deal would be devastating to our economy and people. Belief alone is not enough, it is NEVER enough. Belief can help you carry out a plan, can push you through to the end, but the plan itself must be sound first. And leaving with no deal is not even a plan, it’s an abandonment… Read more »
Even if you’re right, do you think that leave supporting MPs aren’t involved in back room deals? There’s back room stuff going on on both sides, Davis and Johnson are being paid by JCB for example. However the weight of evidence is that leaving with no deal would be devastating to our economy and people. Belief alone is not enough, it is NEVER enough. Belief can help you carry out a plan, can push you through to the end, but the plan itself must be sound first. And leaving with no deal is not even a plan, it’s an abandonment… Read more »
Amazing this no deal lark. First we had sift brexit. Equals no brexit. Then we also had hard brexit. Which in real terms means brexit. Leave. Notice how those terms have vanished from msm and now it’s no deal, cliff wages and crashing out. A deal basically means remaining in the very things the majority voted to leave. A major problem. As any “deal” is constructed by the EU to hamstring the country leaving. Us. Brill. And one of mankind’s biggest mysteries how other nations cope perfectly well on WTO rules augmented by free trade deals where possible yet the… Read more »
Thats Because most of the nations in the WTO have trade deals already thats why they are doing fine, we will have none when leaving the EU.Correct me or explain other????
But they don’t though. In fact no other nation on earth uses only WTO terms, none! Even North Korea has some preferential trade deals. WTO regulations are not a panacea they are the bare minimum of what is required for countries to trade, all other countries try to improve on them. Throughout the referendum no one seriously claimed we would leave on WTO terms. This is a problem that is rooted in no one on either side defining what they actually wanted, only what they didn’t want. You’ve acknowledged that people voted leave for many different reasons. In order to… Read more »
Additionally. Nigel Farage said during the referendum that airbus would never move production from Wales. Apparently he was wrong about that too.
Richard. That is what I said. We would have FT deals. With the EU and many others. So problem being?
The EU have structured these talks on withdrawal agreement first. Money first. Rights first.
Trade talks are yet to start. And when they will there will be a FT deal, because their trade deficit depends on it.
I did not say no FT and WTO only.
People are deliberately confusing a deal and a deal, to suit their narrative.
Strange Richard the latest ICM poll in the Guardian ( of all places ) showed no deal has the greatest support.
Crooked deals leaving us tied to the EU in all but name are the premise of the globalist elite, of which the “establishment” in this country have vested interests. Take Mr Soames for example.
WTO is the initial default position in time supplemented by 45 bilateral comprehensive FT agreements and morphing 70 other EU ones into UK ones.
Short term pain or disruption, for long term gain.
Sadly so many cannot see that.
What is short term pain with many company HQ’s leaving the uk ? seems long term to me.
That’s just another theory and typical of Brexit rhetoric. Why take the risk? Absolute craziness and for no proven benefit
Dave, please dont question the leavers fantasy, first the claims wer that the EU needed us more and we had the upper hand, now its all for no deal, funny how that was never mentioned at the start. No matter the argument, leavers will keep claiming a no deal is good and make excuses for some mythical “short term pain” whatever that means
True, unfortunately. reminds me of the tv programme from the 70’s – ‘Fantasy Island’.
……and this is all because hundreds of thousands of people voted in a pointless referendum to stop the “bloody immigrants taking our jobs” If it wasn’t so sad it would be laughable.
I couldn’t disagree more. Millions voted ?
Seriously though, I hope this is a joke.
No joke – he’s correct. It was the ’75m Turks’ lie that was pivotal, added to all the preceding anti-immigrant stuff.
Which has not changed a bit. As the population is still rising at 300,000 plus a year.
But it suits your narrative to suggest it was ALL about that, when in fact people have varied reasons for voting out, over decades of forming an opinion.
Think back to the referendum Daniele and the two main complaints from people on the streets intending to vote leave and they were about immigration and the money we “sent” Europe. You are right about immigration though and it will continue to rise because otherwise our economy will grind to a halt.
No narrative from me. It’s clear that the Turkey lies tipped the scale – after which the clown Johnson, as Foreign Sec, was talking about helping Turkey join.
What I find sad is that y’all genuinely believe that is why they voted that way. Making a caricature of your opponent is why your side lost as inevitably you make a caricature of yourself. Instead of approaching voters as a fellow and patriotic citizen, Remain inevitably came across as a snide preacher passing judgement, a shrieking kindergarten school mistress, or even and much worse as someone claiming to be your fellow citizens master “who know what’s best for the ignorant racists”. Never once did Remain approach voters as fellow citizens who believed being in the EU was what was… Read more »
And of course Geoffrey the irony being that millions of immigrants will continue to come but just from other countries. Britain has a massive skills crisis and always will due to its culture. Without immigration, many businesses and sectors would collapse as would the NHS. Even financial services are “Crown Jewels” is rammed with foreign workers. Britain creates an environment for companies to excel but this happens in the most part because of our immigration policy
Fortunately, the annals of history will still say ‘The United Kingdom left the European Union at 11pm on the 29th March 2019’.
And at the bottom there’ll be a footnote that will say ‘repeated statements of Blackmail from European manufacturing CEOs didn’t make a blind bit of difference’.
So jog on.
Airbus should be lobbying the French Government with the same intensity! The reality of Brexit is that both sides stand to lose billions if handled badly. It’s about time the thousands of European companies who trade with the Uk, woke up and made their voices heard in Brussels. We all know the zealots in the EU high ground, don’t understand the concept of challenging their intransigence, but Airbus won’t welcome the prospect of establishing an alternative wing manufacturing plant, as main production lines could grind to a halt.
My view, Airbus knows it will require a huge cash injection from the rest when the UK leaves. That is money which will be less than it wants and will be late . A little why the entire EU crowd want to reverse a legal vote (Like it did with France/Denmark and Ireland) so as to keep their spending going. Oh and by the way, I voted remain, but I am sick to death of the bullying , lies, misinformation and backstabbing from the remain crowd. Personally I would like to see all the remain MPs sacked. the likes of… Read more »
Matey well said , here’s me thinking even this site had succumbed to a bunch of rather silly people who spout baseless opinions and display a woeful understanding and knowledge on matters military now talking brexit .The armchair general crowd who’s posts read like they are still 12 playing with toy soldiers in their bedrooms whilst simultaneously acting like they are privy to the latest gov intel or were present during design phase of weapons or know what is being discussed by the top brass or political elites. These folks just basically devalue what is a rather sporting and informative… Read more »
Bravo Farouk and you from me as well. (are you related to Los Pollos Hermanos?)
Chicken? More like utter cock……
Bravo farouk. As usual.
SO you’re a brexiter then? And you don’t think there’s been the same from that side?
I am getting all confused, Airbus is saying that they will leave the UK if there is no deal on the table. The EU is saying that the withdrawal agreement must be signed before they will negotiate a trade deal. Rheinmetall has just bought a 55% share of BAE land systems for future potential development. If the UK is going to be in such a bad place after Brexit why would Rheinmetal invest? If the UK is going to be in such a good place then why would Airbus think about leaving. It seems that it is not only the… Read more »
Hmm, i thought the value of the GBP was going to collapse if we leave, wouldnt that give AIRBUS a cost advantage in the global competition for sales ?
Im not eqnomics except buy any means. However, in my mind wouldn’t the best option be to just declare ourselves a completely free trade country. Along with making central London a low tax zone for business management especially for the financial industries. That way not only would we attract more international business but we would also have less disruption if we have a no deal brexit as British industry suppliers would not be delayed from coming in to the UK from the EU. In fact they may latter find better and more cheaper resources from outside the EU.
We don’t want wealthily people or international business, they’re the evil global elite. We have no need for their money.
Joking aside your right imagine if we could attract companies like Google or Apple to locate their HQ to the UK we’d get some nice increases in tax so we could spend more on defence. Google Amazon Facebook Apple (GAFA) make more than the entire UK economy. Sadly the UK is more likely to drive business away than attract them.
Would be nice. London could become the hong kong of Europe.
Harry, parts of It already are.
I know. Unfortunately a lot seem to be leaving due to the uncertainty.
Why would google and Facebook leave sunny CA for rainy uk? The US government is all over them and they get away with everything. We would regulate the hell out of them (and rightly so), not an attractive proposition for them
I thought the elites were the ones blocking Brexit?
“the globalist elites,big money corporations and the like will do say anything to try and prevent us from controlling our LAWS MONEY BORDERS” – los pollos
So are we meant to like them or hate them in post-Brexit Britain? All gets very confusint.
Get the right ones. Those from outside the EU.
I think the general public have no idea of who the supposed Elite are, they’re not given names. Are they people like the boss of Heineken, I mean how dare she live in London and bring money from global beer sales to the UK.
Only if Labour win the next general election.
Because our market would be unprotected from cheaper imports, developed to lower safety, environmental and worker standards. While ours exports would be taxed and uncompetitive abroad. Or companies would start to fold and be bought out and our trade deficit would balloon even further. Our service exports make up for our goods deficit, stopping us hemoraging currency. No deal is economic suicide. Our economy has been signing with the European Union economies for forty five years, you can’t cut that off suddenly.
Depends on if it is a chaotic no deal or a managed no deal. A managed no deal need not be a disaster. However, it will need time to set up. MPs who want to delay Brexit, should listen to senior EU voices. That senior Belgian MEP, said he would be happy to delay Brexit until 1st July. That is when the new Euro parliament meets without UK members. He wants Britain out by then, so there can be a fresh start. 1st July Brexit gives both sides time to work out arrangements at ports/airports, buy new equipment, train staff,… Read more »
So what hasn’t been done in two years can be done from scratch in a few months. No chance.
If you are trying to do a full deal, then you are right.
If on the other hand, you are just trying to agree the minimum to stop the borders (ports/airports) seizing up, then there is time for a simple deal. The full deal would come years later.
Two years of posturing on both sides, is not the same as six months mutual hard graft to stop chaos.
Would the UK be in this position ( facing Blackmail from a large multinational throwing its toys out of pram at a democratic vote ) if it’s aerospace industries were still by and large home owned? Perhaps we should take a leaf out of Corbyn’s book and actually support home industry ( I agree with him ) and dare I say start another wing making business using some of the money at present going to the EU in fees, or using some of the money in coming in future due in tariffs on EU goods, which will be vast until… Read more »
Issue is who are we going to sell wings or even aircraft for that matter to. The market is satuated.
Then sell….something else? Or make wings better, cheaper.
Oh hang on I forget T Mays “deal” we are not allowed to undercut others with cheaper tariffs than the EU one. Forget what paragraph it’s in.
They call it a “Level playing field”
I call it the EU shitting itself at competition.
Hell im a leaver and all for fucking over the EU. Issue is where not in a position to do that.
But yeah completely agree with underpricing the EU.
Yeah cos that’s how markets work. A start up aviation manufacturer with no customer base goes from zero to undercutting the biggest aircraft companies in the world. It’s so depressing hearing stuff like this. It’s thousands of people’s jobs on the line. It seems easy to be blasé about other people’s jobs.
If Airbus abandons the UK, what does it do about the A330neo & the A350? These are powered by Rolls-Royce engines only.
Of course they could switch to American engines, but that would take at least two to three years.
Do they want Toulouse standing idle for years?
Everyone’s a Bloody politician !!!
Great thread though, Really enjoyed the “Chicken Chicken” post about Us being “Armchair Warriors ” whilst He does exactly the same. Priceless.
Can’t wait till Happy Hour Later.
Aye aye captain!!!
Danielle,
That’s a simplistic interpretation of the Guardian/ICM poll. It’s true it says that the most popular option is no deal at 28%. but popular and majority are not synonymous, clearly 28% is not a majority. Of the other options, the majority 58% want to pursue ANY course of action that ISN’t no deal. Therefor the majority opinion is against no deal not for it. 11% don’t know and 3% support something else not polled.
Hmm….too subtle that for some Richard!
I realise my opinion will have no popularity here.
There is no benefit to Brexit.
I am not from the armed forces, but I do recognize their importance.
I work for a company that provides major resources to the military.
Absolutely NOTHING of Brexit will make things better or cheaper.
The military are famously capable seeing through BS to see the truth.
It is time to prove it.
Most of you have a military background, tell me – honestly – how Brexit will benefit the services.
Well it stops UK armed forces being dragged into the new EU army that France & Germany are dead set on. That is likely to be a Europudding of epic proportions.
John. The EU can’t make any member participate in it’s any concept. Each member can veto. Indeed if we stay we can make sure it never becomes part of any EU treaty, which given what the organisation can do.
Army concept.
Governs what the organisation can do.
Well there are many senior voices in the EU, who have said that they would only let the UK remain in the EU, if the UK ditched the Pound & joined the Euro, gave up the UK opt-outs & rebate, joined the EU Army, agreed to “ever closer union”.
Would you want to stay in the EU if that is the price that Brussels demands?
They can’t actual do that, we can’t be forced out because we don’t want the Euro etc and we can leave when we want.
Then why are they saying it?
Re the EU ‘army’, here’s an interesting item on it:-
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/25/brexiters-european-army-myths-franco-german
Sovereignty that is where the benefit is and that is what i voted leave for and i knew exactly what i was voting for and i did the deed with no help from foreign sources either btw.
Sovereignty to do what exactly?
That’s because Brexit really isn’t about economic factors. It’s largely about immigration and a recognition that Britain is a declining power on the world stage. Brexit will make no difference to these issues
I think the comments in the Telegraph explain why this is total BS created by eu loving bodies. Read them! Plus this written by someone: Cadbury moved factory to Poland 2011 with EU grant. Ford Transit moved to Turkey 2013 with EU grant. Jaguar Land Rover has recently agreed to build a new plant in Slovakia with EU grant, owned by Tata, the same company who have trashed our steel works and emptied the workers pension funds. Peugeot closed its Ryton (was Rootes Group) plant and moved production to Slovakia with EU grant. British Army’s new Ajax fighting vehicles to… Read more »
Darren I share your concern about the contraction of UK industry. But I think all your extract from the Telegraph has demonstrated is that other countries in the EU seem to have thriving manufacturing industries. Indeed some, like the Germans, still seem to value making “stuff”! I’m not sure that is universally the attitude in Whitehall, or the City of London. I think the loss of sections of British industry is less to do with the EU (or perfidious foreigners), and simply more to do with the somewhat “laissez-faire” attitude which British governments have adopted towards manufacturing industry during the… Read more »
The Business rates on industrial sites are three times higher in the UK than the EU average. When it was suggested that UK Gov should help its industry by lowering rates to the EU average, the EU warned the UK Gov that would be considered illegal state aid.
Its not as if we would be undercutting them, just going to their average.
The British Gov gave way, as usual.
Darren I voted to leave but you cant blame the EU for these industries and businesses leaving or failing in the UK. The fault sits 100% with UK Governments that have happily resided over the selling off or destruction of much of British industry. In a country where the quick buck is king, long term investment in R&D, training and manufacturing is just not the done thing. Much better to undermine a steady FTSE listed company and then make some cash from the takeover or just asset strip it. Now in any other developed country, Germany, France, Holland and even… Read more »
Well said and about time it was said,we have been comprehensively buggered by first the EEC and then by the EU,on the 29th of March we begin another chapter in our long and glorious history free at last from the shackles of the horrid little technocrats that run the EU for themselves and their dictatorial,elitist,illiberal globalist racketeering mates.
Interesting comments….if you are right then we should leave. However, I suspect, as other posts have pointed out, that British economic policy is as much to blame. Thatcher started it! A third of British manufacturing bit the dust under her leadership. We need government policies that prioritise British industry. Thatcher railed against Heath for bailing out Rolls-Royce arguing that industry should stand on it’s own feet. RR had significant cash flow problems with developing the RB211….the engine that led to the highly successful Trent family. God bless Ted Heath!
Alan, sorry looks like I said the same thing but you must think and type quicker than me. Of course if you voted remain and I to leave that might suggest that actually normal people on both sides of the argument are just fed up with the incompetence of UK politicians. Anyway perhaps someone could send these comments to our MPs because the quality of the debate on here seems far higher than that which we see on our TVs. All the best
That was a good post, SJB.
Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland and by some measures France all have a higher GDP per capita that the UK – some of them considerably so. Look it up for yourself – it’s very clear.
They are all in the apparently stifling EU.
How would a brexiteer explain that?
OOA. Since we’ve been in the EU for over 45 years how would a remainer explain it ?
Because since 1979 we’ve mainly had governments pursuing ‘neo liberal’ low tax trickle down economics, aka make the rich richer. Also called voodoo economics by the late Republican US president G H W Bush. That and austerity are among the causes of the leave vote.
And yet Bush normally supported those type of policies. Also he was Neoconservative not Neoliberal. The faces of the Neoliberal crowd in the 90s were Clinton and Blair.
Trickle down works but only so long as you restrict the supply of labor and prevent the export of jobs.
The issue is governments oftentimes only do the first part and cut taxes without adopting any measures in regards to the supply of labor and the export of jobs overseas. The reason you need the tax cuts is no one has ever gotten a job from a poor man.
Ummm actual almost all UK and US political leaders have been basically neoliberals or neoliberal puppets since the 1980s. Even neoconservatism is build on neoliberal principles of market dominance and deregulation. With a specific set of foreign polices added for fun. In fact I would say the only US leader since Reagan and thatcher really embedded neoliberalism in the 1980s is president trump, as his protectionist, control of markets for the national good goes against classic neoliberal thinking (of which the purists would see their own citizens lose out if the market dictated it should) I suspect it’s part of… Read more »
A remainer (like me) wouldn’t try to explain it actually. I use it to highlight the fact that there are countries in the EU which are economically more successful than us and there are those which are worse. It therefore strikes me as odd to suggest that the EU is intrinsically stifling to an economy and we’d be better outside – it clearly isn’t stifling in the cases of those countries mentioned. You prob need to look closer to home if you really want an explanation: the issue is and has always been in Whitehall which has seen manufacturing as… Read more »
Your lack of faith in your fellow citizens is inspiring. Have you thought about running for office? With such cheerful outlook on the voters you should garner a whole o.5% of the vote.
Is that honestly the best you can do? To basically say cheer up and don’t be grumpy? Really?
I try to base my opinions on facts wherever possible and while I don’t pretend to be free of bias, I am unwilling to engage in mud slinging based on emotions.
All of this is a result of 40 years of monetarism , everything has been commoditised and sold on the markets. This was OK when wealth did trickle down but these streams have dried up or more likely diverted in to corporate pockets. Its not Europe’s fault, the sensibly devised a political system that ensured coalitions programmatically took decisions free from ideology based on long term plans. We on the other hand only consider short term gains and need foreign expertise to make our manufacturing industries work because we have abandoned manufacturing as a career for professionals due to constant… Read more »
I agree with everything you said because the debate does need to be on how those with privilege have ensured they maintain in fact have increased their share of the cake. The debate about equality is great for them because it is only focusing on gender and not ensuring that those from the lower order get a chance to better themselves through education and of course in representation in parliament. The number of public school educated MPs has actually increased and that is not a matter of left or right but a sad fact. However, I am more optimistic about… Read more »
American here: Sounds like someone needs to take a tumble down the stairs. I watched this cunt CEO’s video… he doesn’t even sound British.
As always British military contracts require some UK manufacturing. If they want the contracts, they require local manufactured components.