HSBC and Toyota have dealt a blow to the prime minister’s vision for a global Britain by threatening to move jobs abroad.
Responding to Theresa May’s speech setting out her strategy for leaving the European Union, Stuart Gulliver, chief executive of the UK’s largest bank, warned that 1,000 investment banking jobs could be transferred to Paris.
He told Bloomberg: “Activities specifically covered by EU legislation will move, and looking at our own numbers, that’s about 20 per cent of revenue.” He added that HSBC would “proceed quite slowly”.
Axel Weber, boss of the Swiss bank UBS, told the BBC “about 1,000” of its 5,000 London jobs could be affected.
Toyota, which employs more than 3,000 people, is in discussions with the government about receiving similar assurances to those given to Nissan last year that competitiveness would not be affected by Brexit. Takeshi Uchiyamada, its chairman, told the Financial Times: “As a UK company, if the situation changes, it is important for that company to make efforts so that they can maintain their competitiveness and continue their business.”
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Their reactions underlined business concerns about Britain’s prospects now that the government has confirmed that the UK will leave the single market.
They were speaking at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, where the business and political elite reiterated their disbelief that Britain had turned its back on the EU.
The prime minister was in Davos yesterday, before another speech today, meeting top bankers. Mark Carney, the Bank of England governor, was also holding private talks with bankers.
Some business leaders and top economists welcomed clarity from Theresa May on the government’s Brexit strategy. Hiroto Saikawa, the co-chief executive of Nissan, which has a major plant in Sunderland, said that he was reassured by Mrs May’s speech on Tuesday.
Nissan, whose assurances are a closely guarded government secret, was optimistic about its position. “It is quite clear they intend to keep the same competitive environment for us,” Mr Saikawa said.
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Sir Mike Rake, chairman of BT, said the tone of the speech had been positive while Sir Christopher Pissarides, a Nobel laureate at the London School of Economics who backed Remain, said that the prime minister had been right to push the case for free open trade.
From Europe, Guntram Wolff, director of the Bruegel think tank, said that Mrs May had dispelled fears that the UK would become little England. He argued that Mrs May’s warning of low taxes and loose regulation was an empty threat because the EU could hit back with trade penalties while tax cuts were not credible because Britain was already running a large budget deficit.#
● David Cameron and George Osborne are being paid tens of thousands of pounds for giving private speeches at Davos. The former prime minister and chancellor were spotted before their appearances at two of the numerous fringe events alongside the forum.
