The disruption from Brexit has been laid bare this week, after DB Schenker became the latest logistics groups to suspend cross-border delivery services between the UK and EU. London could be losing its allure for IPOs, with Polish e-commerce group InPost choosing to list on Amsterdam instead.
There is no shortage of opinion concurring with the view that the UK is about to experience years of relative economic ‘decline’ vis-à-vis the EU.
Whatever the case may be, the UK has stolen a march on its EU neighbours in the race to vaccinate its citizens against Covid-19.
Europe’s slow start on vaccinations will be a particular worry for peripherals: Spain, Greece, Portugal can simply not afford another poor tourist season. Indeed, the Eurozone countries that entered the pandemic with the highest debt-to-GDP ratios are also those that are projected to experience the largest deterioration in public finances.
For the UK, stockpiling of cars and medicines pushed imports up sharply in November. Once the effects of stockpiling dissipate, however, the underlying improvement in the ‘core’ trade numbers may resume.
The rise in the services surplus to a fresh record in November (£11.02bn) is a structural trend driven by a range of services beyond finance, including management consulting, insurance, and information services.
