Business relocation in Europe – talk to us!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: Thought leadership | Tags: business, tax, offshore, compliance, advice, relocation, Europe, intellectual property, migration, globalisation, offshoring, IP management, relocating to Europe, regional hubs, centralisation

Moving your business overseas can bring a competitive advantage and can be done in a number of ways, from intellectual property (IP) management and offshoring to full migration. So what exactly are the options for companies wanting to shift operations abroad? And which are the favoured European countries to relocate to?

Hot topic: relocating to Europe
These questions are becoming a hot topic for businesses in the global economy and are addressed in Grant Thornton’s new report ‘A guide to business relocation in Europe’. This short report (PDF) highlights the different benefits and levels of business relocation, and is the precursor to the full, in-depth relocation guide, available from your Grant Thornton adviser. But the main aim is to get a conversation going – after all, no one is going to take such a big step without specialist advice.

Where to relocate to?
The full report contains a detailed comparison of favoured destinations within Europe, but we’ve shortlisted the top nine European countries and why they are the favourites for business relocation.

• Belgium – popular as an IP holding company location owing to a favourable patent box regime and other incentives.
• Cyprus – widely used for investment into Russia and central eastern Europe due to a relatively low-cost workforce, favourable treaties and a low corporate tax rate.
• Ireland – popular with technology and pharmaceutical companies owing to a flexible regime and low corporate tax rates.
• Luxembourg – the availability of advance agreements with the tax authorities makes this attractive for treasury operations.
• Malta – a low-cost, relatively highly skilled workforce, aligned with a low tax rate, makes this popular for shared service activities.
• Netherlands – excellent treaty network and flexible regime mean that it is a popular holding company location.
• Spain – widely used for investment into Latin America given its strong treaty network with these countries.
• Switzerland – an excellent intellectual property regime, sophisticated workforce and low effective tax rates for international companies makes it widely used.
• UK – often chosen for commercial rather than tax benefits, particularly for US multinationals. Its tax regime is becoming more favourable again.

Read our short European relocation report (PDF) highlighting the different benefits and levels of business relocation.

To talk to someone now about the relocation options for your businesses, please contact Nick Farr on +44 (0)207 7282691 or email him at Nick.Farr@uk.gt.com. Alternatively, contact your local Grant Thornton adviser.

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