This interactive session included Marie Hunt of CBRE, Raphael Treguier of Cegereal, and Thomas Ledoux of Defacto, moderated by Karstein Trompetter of Trompetter Immobilien GmbH. Focused on Paris and Dublin as potential benefactors of the Brexit vote, the panel made their case for why their city was best for receiving new businesses looking to relocate within the EU.
Treguier noted that Paris is a strong city because it simply has a lot of options regarding infrastructure, office space, and language. Hunt perceives Ireland as the most logical choice, given it is the only country left in the EU that is English speaking. Overall, Hunt was pessimistic about the economic impacts of the Brexit vote.
This session interacted with the audience by asking a series of questions with some quick commentary by the panel. The questions and important results are highlighted below:
- Will there be any winners of the Brexit?
47% of the audience said “Yes, the countries outside the U.K. will win.” Hunt thought Dublin would win some investment for office space, so from a real estate perspective this was good.
- Which cities will belong to the winners in Europe?
With the option between Frankfurt, Paris or other, the audience thought Frankfurt was the winner with 58% of the vote. Paris received only 6%. Ledoux was surprised by the results and stood by his stance that given the increased marketing campaigns in Paris painting Paris as a good option for relocation, Paris would be a winner. Treguer further added that as a result of Brexit, he has had numerous conversations with companies interested in moving to Paris from Great Britain.
- Who will be the losers in Europe besides London?
62% of the audience said the U.K. as a whole would lose. The panel agreed.
- What will be the future situation of the EU?
72% of the audience said the “EU will lose.”
- Will the upcoming elections have a Brexit-like outcome?
This resulted in a 50/50% vote between Yes and No. The panel noted that many of these elections are very uncertain.
- Does the EU have a future?
53% of the audience said “Yes, significantly” while 47% voted “Yes, somewhat.”
To conclude, Trompetter highlighted that there are other cities that could be winners of the Brexit vote, such as Barcelona. However, given the representation of the panel, France and Ireland were chosen as top contenders for discussion.
