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My January update on what the biggest Japanese companies in the UK have been doing to prepare for Brexit. Short version: no job losses, but many legal changes downgrading UK status + shift of investment capital out of the UK. Longer version - see following thread 1/
Brexit is a trigger for Japanese companies to do some Marie Kondo style decluttering + shoring up - things that might have been done anyway, boosted by Brexit. Their turnover + employment not growing as fast 2016/7 to 2017/8 as they were 2015/6 to 2016/7 2/
My research has identified the 1000 or so Japanese companies in the UK, They employ >162,000 people in the UK, turnover of >£100bn. 2015/6 to 2016/7 was a good year - employment up 6%, turnover up 20%. 2016/7 to 2017/8 less so - 2% growth in jobs, 0.4% increase in turnover. 3/
The Fujitsu group continues to be the biggest Japanese employer in the UK (>8,300) but probably outstripped by Nissan this past year. Employee numbers have dropped by 2,000 since 2016 + further restructuring in Europe started Oct 2018, including shutting Augsburg factory. 4/
As it has many UK public sector IT contracts, Fujitsu is staying quiet on Brexit impact, trying to be constructive about technology solutions to @borderirish 5/ blog.uk.fujitsu.com/uk-borders-and…
Nissan (second biggest Japanese company in the UK) announced its results for UK manufacturing recently, showing employment up 2% compared to 4% increase previous year, turnover down 3% having increased 19% previous year. 6/ chroniclelive.co.uk/business/busin…
Difficult to say how Ghosn's arrest will impact Nissan's UK operations - on the one hand Ghosn might have favoured Renault's French plants over UK in the event of a bad Brexit, but on the other, he was the person that the UK government gave the still mysterious assurances to. 7/
Honda, as was widely publicised, announced they will shut their factory for 4 days after Brexit day. This is actually very short compared to their 4 month closure during the 2009 recession. 8/ theguardian.com/business/2009/…
Like Nissan, Honda's 2018 results show smaller increases in employment (4%) and turnover (14%) in 2017/8 compared to the previous year when they were up 20% and 34% respectively. (correction to previous tweet, Honda shut down is 6 days) 9/
Fourth biggest Japanese group in the UK is trading company Itochu, which employs over 6,700 via various subsidiaries, mostly tyre related like Kwik-Fit. Turnover of around £1.2bn a year has declined 4-5% past 2 years. 10/
As well as the suspended Wylfa nuclear power project, Hitachi has invested heavily in its rail business in the UK. Like Nissan + Honda, overall employment + turnover in the Hitachi group rose significantly 2015/6 to 2016/7 (23% + 30%) but less so 2016/7 to 2017/8 (9% + 14%) 11/
Dentsu Aegis Network (>4000 employees) continued to acquire advertising+ marketing agencies in UK, but again the group'sturnover and employment not growing as quickly 2016/7 to 2017/8 as the previous year. 12/
Toyota started production of its new Corolla at its Burnaston plant in the UK December 2018, but type approval shifted to European HQ in Belgium. UK MD says they support May's transitional deal + that no deal Brexit "not an option" derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/business/…
Sony (>3,300 employees) increased turnover by a third from 2015/6 to 2016/7, but "only" 12% growth the year after, shedding 4-5% of jobs each year. Sony Europe will no longer be a UK incorporated company after merger into Dutch Sony Europe presumably becoming a branch. 14/
DVD manufacturing at Sony DADC in Essex shifted to Austria in 2017/8, capital reduced by £280m, around 70 jobs gone so far 15/
Ricoh has 3 factories in the UK, employs over 3500 people, 5% down on 2 years ago, turnover flat at around £3.9bn. European financial operations are based in London, has said might reconsider, depending on outcome of Brexit 16/ asia.nikkei.com/Business/Japan…
Mitsubishi Corporation International Europe PLC was merged into Mitsubishi Europe Holdings NV, becoming a branch at the end of 2018. Turnover for the group, including Princes, (tinned food and drink) grew by 17% to over £3.1bn 2016/7 to 2017/8. Brexit stockpiling? 🍅🍅🍅17/
Japanese telecoms company NTT continues to expand aggressively in the UK, turnover is now over £1bn, employing around 2000 people. Sees Brexit as an opportunity to provide IT services around customs + border control. 18/18 rudlinconsulting.com/some-japanese-…
correction to the above - Mitsubishi Europe Holdings NV is being merged into MCIE PLC.
