EDITOR’S COMMENT Jack Cheeseman


June 2019 ertonline.co.uk


12


Euro-vision S


o… Brexit didn’t hap pen. The political landscape remains unsettled. And now we’ve got to wait until the end of October for the


government – with its eventual new leader – to battle it out… as if Halloween wasn’t scary enough already. There’s absolutely no doubt that British business is being hit hard by the uncertainty around all this, and that’s exactly the point that Barend Ezechiels made when I asked him his views on the topic of Brexit. Barend is Sony’s new UK and Ireland Country Head. I met up with him at Sony’s UK HQ in Weybridge last month to chat about the company’s reported movement of its European headquarters from the UK to the Netherlands in order to swerve any disruptions caused by Brexit. He assured me that almost nothing is changing and that all UK operations are remaining at the Surrey office. “It’s purely an administrative move,” he said, adding that Sony needs to ensure it complies with any importing rules in the EU, regardless of the Brexit outcome.


However, people in the industry may have been curious about all this when the news first broke at the beginning of the year, not least because it appeared Sony wasn’t alone. Dyson also announced it was moving its headquarters to Singapore, from Wiltshire, although it said it had nothing to do with Brexit. And late last year, Panasonic moved its European HQ to Amsterdam, mostly because of tax issues potentially created by Brexit, it was reported. Nevertheless, Barend maintained that he thought that the uncertainty is the biggest frustration for everybody at the moment, and companies are putting measures in place but no one knows how long these measures need to last. He said that some important decisions need to be made. Read more from page 16.


In the summertime when the weather is hot With summer holiday season now upon us, it’s the best time to think about outdoor living. Garden parties and family barbecues dominate


I met up with Sony’s Barend Ezechiels at the company’s UK HQ in Surrey


the social calendar at this time of year, and with the rise of smart and wireless technology, outdoor entertainment is becoming increasingly popular. This month, we bring you a round-up of just some of the options on the market at the moment. From battery-powered, Bluetooth portable music-blasters to integrated, disguised speakers in the garden, now could be the time to capture consumers’ imagination and to encourage them to think outside the box… literally, outside.


Email the editor at jackcheeseman@ertonline.co.uk What do you think ?


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