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Popular British expat foodstuffs shop in Berlin closing due to Brexit
| Published: | 2 Apr at 6 PM |
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As the Brexit drama grinds on and on, Brit expats with small businesses in Europe are preparing to lose everything they’ve worked for.
One of the most infuriating aspects of the embarrassment which is now the British parliament is lawmakers’ constant harping on about the ‘British people’ - the 17 million who voted to leave the EU in an ‘advisory’ referendum – as if those who had the gall to leave the UK or who voted to remain are no longer British. Two very British expats in Berlin are about to give up on their store selling British foodstuffs after 23 years of supplying their fellow Brits as well as a good number of locals in the German capital.
Robin Carr and his wife Dale decided to close down following the shock referendum result in 2016 after considering the uncertainty of not knowing how Britain’s exit from the EU would affect deliveries from the UK for both their main Berlin shop and its twin in the west of the city. The couple arrived in Berlin in 1978 and will retire by the end of May, leaving their employees out of work unless a buyer can be persuaded to take a chance on the availability of post-Brexit supplies of British culinary goodies.
Visiting customers to the couple’s Broken English store told reporters they’re dismayed at the UK decision to leave the European Union, adding they’re stocking up with as much as they can before the popular outlet closes its doors for the last time. Seeing the writing on the wall, Robin and Dale applied for German citizenship as soon as they could, and were accepted in summer 2017. When the word got around the Brit expat community, the shop became an unofficial meet-up centre for other Brits who’d decided to go down the citizenship route in order to limit Brexit’s effect on their lives.
Sadly, the couple have lost friends who’d voted Leave, and are aware the referendum has divided the formerly close expat community in Berlin. Business is booming at the present time, as loyal customers are stocking up as much as they can afford as the closing date approaches. Dale believes Brexit has damaged a huge number of British expats and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
One of the most infuriating aspects of the embarrassment which is now the British parliament is lawmakers’ constant harping on about the ‘British people’ - the 17 million who voted to leave the EU in an ‘advisory’ referendum – as if those who had the gall to leave the UK or who voted to remain are no longer British. Two very British expats in Berlin are about to give up on their store selling British foodstuffs after 23 years of supplying their fellow Brits as well as a good number of locals in the German capital.
Robin Carr and his wife Dale decided to close down following the shock referendum result in 2016 after considering the uncertainty of not knowing how Britain’s exit from the EU would affect deliveries from the UK for both their main Berlin shop and its twin in the west of the city. The couple arrived in Berlin in 1978 and will retire by the end of May, leaving their employees out of work unless a buyer can be persuaded to take a chance on the availability of post-Brexit supplies of British culinary goodies.
Visiting customers to the couple’s Broken English store told reporters they’re dismayed at the UK decision to leave the European Union, adding they’re stocking up with as much as they can before the popular outlet closes its doors for the last time. Seeing the writing on the wall, Robin and Dale applied for German citizenship as soon as they could, and were accepted in summer 2017. When the word got around the Brit expat community, the shop became an unofficial meet-up centre for other Brits who’d decided to go down the citizenship route in order to limit Brexit’s effect on their lives.
Sadly, the couple have lost friends who’d voted Leave, and are aware the referendum has divided the formerly close expat community in Berlin. Business is booming at the present time, as loyal customers are stocking up as much as they can afford as the closing date approaches. Dale believes Brexit has damaged a huge number of British expats and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
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