Unilever to combine UK and Dutch arms to "unify" with London HQ

An international retailer today announced that its headquarters will remain in London following concerns it would leave the UK after Brexit.

Unilever, which owns food, beauty and homeware brands, is “unifying” its group under a single parent company following an 18-month review.

The company currently operates in two branches, one based in London and the other in Amsterdam, but the brand has said that the unification plan will not affect jobs at either site, meaning its legal base will be in the UK.

It had previously been working on plans to combine into a Dutch company, following the UK’s EU referendum, but changed tack after British shareholders objected.

The Ben & Jerry’s owner also said that it is “clear that the Covid-19 pandemic will create a business environment in which having as much flexibility and responsiveness as possible will be critically important”.

Nils Andersen, chairman of Unilever, commented: “Unilever’s board believes that unifying the company’s legal structure will create greater strategic flexibility, remove complexity and further improve governance.

“We remain committed to The Netherlands and the UK and there will be no change to Unilever’s footprint in either country as a result of the proposed change to Unilever’s legal parent structure.

“We are confident that unification will help Unilever deliver its vision of driving superior long-term performance through its multiple stakeholder business model.”