Brexit has made it “much more complicated” to manage staff and make new hires, according to Bentley chief financial officer Jan-Henrik Lafrentz.
Speaking on a call with journalists following the release of the Audi Group’s financial results, he said: “It's not necessarily the money; it's the effort it takes to manage the business now.
“For example, changing people [within] the Audi brand group is much more complicated. It takes six months to get visa. You can't change people for just six months, because the effort is the same as hiring people for three or five years.”
Lafrentz hinted that this makes the UK’s automotive industry less attractive to investors, saying: “What is absolutely needed is stability. You can discuss what the right political strategies are to reinforce the UK automotive industry. But what's absolutely necessary is stability. If it's a high investment or car business investment – heavy industry – with a long-term perspective, you only invest if you have stability, and I think that’s urgently needed. Hopefully we’re on the right track for the UK.”
Although this “admin burden” is the main challenge introduced by Brexit, there's also a financial cost added – “somewhere in the €5 million (£4.4m) to €7m (£6.1m) per year [region]”, according to Lafrentz.
Nonetheless, this amounts to a small dent in Bentley’s balance sheet. The British brand made an all-time high operating profit of €708m (£620m) last year at an operating margin of 20.9%.
That figure is almost double the previous record of €389m (£340m) set in 2021 on a 13.7% margin – a remarkable turnaround from 2018’s €288m (£252m) loss.
The spike in profitability despite industry headwinds (including rises in energy, material and logistics costs) was thanks to a sharp uptick in the value of each car sold, according to an official statement.
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