As the first fully fledged
member state prepares to leave the European Union
with the UK’s departure, it is worth exploring what
this means for businesses on the other side of the
Channel in France.
Like their UK counterparts,
capitalising on change without waiting for the
political process to complete is vital for French
business who, also like their UK counterparts, are
taking the initiative to meet this challenge.
An important lens into what
business is doing “on the ground” is to examine the
current and forecast use of currencies as a share of
cross border business. French business estimated
change in the context of geopolitical changes and
the forecast strengthening or weakening of the Euro
is a telling indication of how companies are
preparing for the upcoming exit of the UK.
With French business
forecasting the EUR to weaken against the GBP across
the board we’d be forgiven for assuming that this
would increase the use of GBP by exporters in France
as their products and services became relatively
cheaper for UK importers. What we find, however, is
that all segments and all trading profiles in France
are forecasting decreased usage of the GBP.
Perhaps a reflection of attitudes that cause
decisions to be made from the heart in response to Brexit rather than based on commercial outcomes? |