Where do we stand with Brexit? In June 2016, 17.4 million people in the UK voted to leave the EU, but the outcome of Brexit is still uncertain and with no sign of an agreement in sight, the government has agreed a further extension to 31st January 2020, and triggered Boris Johnson's call for a General Election which is due to take place on the 12th December 2019.
Now, despite individual thoughts and feelings over Brexit, we at AirPlus knew that we would need to prepare our organisation so that our customers could rest assured that they would be able to continue their daily business, whenever we do (or possibly do not) leave the European Union.
AirPlus International is very well placed as we already operate across the EU. Headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, we also have several offices across Europe including Italy, Switzerland, France, The Netherlands, Austria and Belgium. This means that, in the case of a “no deal” situation, we are still able to provide the same services to our customers who operate in countries inside the EU and because these entities are based in Europe we can provide local, in-language support for our customers and their travellers.
So, where are we now? Well, we are regularly talking to both the UK and European regulators, industry representatives and our fellow payment providers to explore all alternatives, including potential periods of transitional relief for firms like us to continue to service our customers from our UK entity (in the event of any unforeseen delays or restrictions). But you can be assured that, no matter what the conclusion of Brexit is, we are confident that we can continue supporting our customers as effectively and professionally as we do today.
Of course, if you have any questions, or any comments, please feel free to email me at pspelman@airplus.com