We also mustn’t forget that as much as Inward Investment can go out, outward investment can come home to roost.
Of course some businesses, in theory, can’t pull out of Britain without losing business. Harrods is a shop selling stuff to Brits with label status driven retail inclinations. Their target market is here, but who’s to say that they can’t find a comparable market somewhere else, or that having to import their products won’t suddenly make them even more desirable. Humans are nothing if not fickle and often illogical, especially when they are consumers.
When considering our Financial sector of course, location has little influence beyond status. Modern money is an electronic entity that has a limited physical presence and precious little to do with banking. Men in red braces can do their job anywhere in the world so long as they have access to remote communication technology. That goes for any financial based business you can think of, Insurance, Stock and Share Traders and doubtless others that don’t leap to mind. Administration too, common to any and all businesses, no longer has to be located near the day to day action.