We ask execs how currency fluctuations are affecting them, starting with Bulldog’s Rob Corney.
Ever since June 23 2016 when the UK voted to leave the EU, the implications and the potential path to a post-Brexit landscape have been much debated.
One of the immediate impacts was the sudden shift in the exchange rate of the pound against the euro and the dollar.
All this week, The Source will be asking some industry faces what this means for their business and the wider licensing community.
Today, Rob Corney, group md, Bulldog Licensing.
How has the change in exchange rate for the pound against the euro and the dollar since Brexit affected your business?
“Forex is always a relative issue in the macro sense – if you buy in dollars and sell in sterling, then any fall in value of sterling will hit you hard, but if you have an export market, then a fall in sterling will help your opportunity to sell internationally.
“The uncertainty following any major political change is always a concern for business, but the underlying British economy is strong and the resolve of the business community even more so.”
How could the changes continue to affect the overall licensing industry going forward?
“It’s an inevitability that, in the short-term, prices at the checkout will have to rise and during the next two to three years, inflation will go up, especially on those items sourced from the Far East. But the interesting thing will be where we are in five years’ time and what trade agreements are struck during the exit from the EU.
There are certainly a lot of unknowns as we unravel a huge bureaucratic bundle – pricing and margins will be keenly fought over for the next couple of years, but there is genuine opportunity at the end of it.”
This feature originally appeared in the spring 2017 edition of Licensing Source Book. Click here to read the full publication.
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