Number of British firms in Slovakia decreases

Last year, Britons registered the highest number of companies in Slovakia for the past eight years (359) but now, it seems that British firms’ interest in founding new companies in the country has dropped. The number of firms with a British owner decreased to 1,303 over the first six months of this year, which is 74 fewer compared to the end of last year. On the other hand, their basic capital showed record-high figures, amounting to over €794 million in mid-2018.

“2017 was very strong from the viewpoint of British firms in Slovakia,” said Petra Štepánová, analyst with the consulting company Bisnode. “We posted a year-on-year growth of 35 percent compared to 2016. Almost 400 new companies with a British owner were established in Slovakia. However, it seems that last year’s record will not be repeated this year, as the number of British firms in Slovakia declined over the first half of this year.

Bisnode produced an analysis of Brexit’s development from the viewpoint of British companies engaged in business in Slovakia as Great Britain should leave the European Union by the end of March 2019.

Meanwhile, Štepánová noted that interestingly, the volume of basic capital has grown each year.

“Last year, total British capital was already twice as high as in 2016; however, the number of firms was growing at that time as well,” said Štepánová. “Conversely, the first half of this year showed an outflow of British firms on concurrent growth of basic capital, which might mean that businessmen from Great Britain are launching bigger businesses in Slovakia.”