Meanwhile, London's City is rapidly becoming a ghost town. Bars in 'The Smoke', previously full of bowler-hatted City gents celebrating multi-million-pound trades, are now deserted.
Flashback to London, 23 June 2016. A few hours after the shock result of the Brexit vote, panic shook major trade companies. Later, most of them packed their bags… For Dublin!
A fast-growing economy
Today, Ireland is home to 20 of the world's top 25 financial services companies with over €4 trillion in assets under administration. That's a staggering €3 million for every family in the country. But the Emerald Isle's gains have been London's losses. London's financial center the City, as it's known, was the most successful industry in Britain - the world's biggest exporter of financial services, even bigger than New York.
But since 2016, when the UK voted to leave the European Union, London is thought to have shed as many as 10,000 posts. Meanwhile, many companies have decided to move elsewhere, Dublin is the grand winner with 135 scalps, followed by Paris with 102 and Luxembourg with 95.
The problem is that when the UK left the European Union, the City lost the right to sell its services freely throughout the remaining 27 member states. Banks, insurances and credit card companies were simply not included in the bare-bones trade deal that Number 10 struck with Brussels. As Sir Mark Boleat (72), Chairman of Link, the UK's cash dispenser network, noted gloomily:
"There's been one forecast that eventually 75,000 jobs could be lost, and I think that doesn't look unrealistic."
Already, the effects are being felt. In London, unemployment could hit 10% or one in ten Londoners, say economists. Groups expected to be particularly hard-hit include ethnic minorities. Councilor Clare Coghill (42), feminist leader of Waltham Forest Council, said: "I went knocking on doors and the deprivation was heartbreaking. I met mothers isolated at the top of blocks of flats with small children who had no access to childcare." Likewise, that reliable bellwether for London's financial health, London City Airport, has seen regular services slashed. The closure of one of British Airways' two-weekday services between London City (LCY) and New York (JFK) via Shannon Airport (SNN) in Ireland, popular with premium travelers, is a hammer blow.
Dublin's Charms Attracting a New Clientelle…
Ah, Dublin. If ever there were a place associated with drinking, it would be the Irish capital. For financiers looking for the classic Dublin tipple, it has to be The Long Hall. With its red and white striped facade and an interior dating back to 1881, this instantly became the place to go for an excellent pint of Guinness.
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