London Bans Metro Advert Attempting to Lure UK Businesses to France Post-Brexit

The consequences of Brexit on UK businesses are likely to be profound, especially in the event of a “hard Brexit”, as the absence of a bespoke EU-UK trade deal or transition period will further unsettle businesses operating in either market.

A French advertising campaign which aimed to lure UK businesses to France post-Brexit has been banned by Transport for London (TfL) after it was deemed likely to cause "public controversy or sensitivity."

"If you didn't vote for Brexit or it's not right for your business, why not vote with your feet and open an office, or settle a production unit, in Normandy," the advert reads.

Dear #Brexit idiots & #BrexitShambles liars

If Brexit is good for #Britain they why is #France & advertising in @TfL #London luring business to #Paris
Clearly @Conservatives want to crash & make this a tax haven@ChukaUmunna @Anna_Soubry @laboursinglemkt @LeaveEUOfficial #FBPE

— Sam Perera 🇪🇺 #FBPE (@samiruperera) 12 марта 2018 г.​

@TfL Credit where credit's due. Well done for banning ads encouraging British firms to relocate / defect to France.

— Dan Yelsan (@Cannamuse) 12 марта 2018 г.​

The advertising campaign was created by Normandy Development Agency and featured a fictional newspaper called The Normandy Times, which mockingly called on entrepreneurs "allergic to post-Brexit tariffs" to move their businesses to the region of Normandy in northern France.

Hervé Morin, the president of the Normandy region, criticized the TfL's decision to ban the advert and highlighted the transport body's "lack of humor."

Quand la @TfL n’a pas d’humour… À défaut d’être underground nous serons overground pour notre campagne de publicité invitant les entrepreneurs britanniques à venir en #Normandie « oublier le #Brexit » pic.twitter.com/svBjnmbzbF

— Hervé Morin (@Herve_Morin) March 12, 2018

​The adverse effects of a "no deal" Brexit scenario were outlined by a report jointly published on Monday by multinational law firm Clifford Chance LLP and Oliver Wyman management consultants, estimating that such an exit could cost UK and EU companies over US$80 billion a year in "tariff and non-tariff trade barriers."

Brexit negotiations are ongoing, with arrangements for a number of key matters — such as the issue of the Northern Ireland's border — yet to be agreed and finalized.

President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker recently warned that the UK would come to regret its decision to leave the EU and said "cherry-picking is not going to be possible" in the UK's trade relationship with the EU.