Irene Lozano, Minister of State for Global Spain, in a speech in the House of Lords at a Spanish Chamber of Commerce event, attended by Giambrone, commented that the UK is an important trade partner and is one of the top ten countries to which Spain exports. She further stated that there was sadness at Britain's decision to leave the EU and considerable concerns regarding the £22 billion worth of goods that Spain exports to the UK each year.
The Brexit saga twists and turns and has the potential to impact on every EU country across Europe, many of the European businesses that trade with the UK are small to medium family businesses that have been trading with Britain for decades, particularly in the food sector with fruit, oil and wine leading the way. Spain supplies roughly one quarter of the UK fresh produce; and Spain is one of the UK's top five countries for imported wine.
Irene Lozano's very real concerns regarding Spanish exports to Britain are echoed in exactly the same way by business leaders in the UK regarding the £14 billion's worth of exports the Britain sends to Spain each year. The unfolding situation which may lead Britain to the cliff-edge of no-deal looks extremely daunting. Giambrone's lawyers believe that the businesses that depend on the continuing trade between Spain and England must be enabled to maintain good economic trading relations by way of efforts from both the UK and the EU; it is unacceptable that political manoeuvrings should stand in the way of sound commercial dealings. There are some strategies to survival and Giambrone will do everything possible to assist as too many companies solely on this trade route and have done for decades.
Strategic M & A activity across the UK and EU borders may provide a way to maintain trading despite the UK's exit from the EU. Large globalised organisations simply will not wait for the final decision as to if, when and how Britain will leave the EU and will not risk having their commercial activities damaged and have taken the step to relocate their HQ in an EU country, despite the obvious costs involved, which are regarded as far more tolerable than missing out on significant trade or potentially paying high tariffs to facilitate trade. Smaller entities can replicate this strategy and maintain their business relationships across the borders and protect their businesses. Merging with another company or acquiring business is not a process to undertaken without considerable thought but the strength that a bigger company brings and the access to market can make a considerable difference. A cross-border merger will almost inevitably mean that there will be two cultures to merge as well as two businesses and it is important that all the staff are thoroughly aware of the importance of the strategy and fully understand the benefits that the bigger company will bring.
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