Keep Calm and Carry On
In the last few years thousands of companies have adapted a 1939 poster urging Britons to “Keep Calm and Carry On.” The original poster was designed to be used after a terrible wartime disaster but was never actually used. The UK could do with a stock of them now.
Very few people in Britain actually expected the country to vote to exit the EU. (Apparently, at the Isle of Man Aviation Conference this week one leading tax adviser pledged that he would next year present in his underpants if the UK voted leave. It is unclear how this will affect attendance in 2017.) Now everyone is desperately trying to work out how it will affect their business.
In the short term the effects will be very limited. The UK has two years to exit and this only comes once it has triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty (which is just 263 words). The UK is expected to leave the EU VAT area but could stay a member of EASA like Switzerland. The Isle of Man may see less aircraft importation, but there is no reason why the registry will not continue to be successful like the Bermuda and Cayman Islands registries.
Airlines are pushing for the UK government to make sure it stays part of EU Single Aviation Market so it is possible that Brexit will not be a huge issue for operators – although they will have to cope with a lot of uncertainty. But for now it is just a case of waiting. And keeping calm.
Only two copies of the original Keep Calm and Carry On poster are believed to have survived. One of them is being sold next week. If you are interested, the guide price is £21,250. (This will probably be around $50 by Monday.)
NOTE: The above originally appeared as the editorial in our Corporate Jet Investor One Minute Week newsletter. To find out more, and sign up for free, please click here.
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