Brexit and embracing our new found status as the Poland of the British Isles…

I got a query this morning from a reader in Dublin who plans to come up for our End of Year Review event. They wanted to know what time the event ended so they could book the bus back home. I suggested a better idea, stay over and make a night of it. The new Premier Inn Hotel is less than a one minute walk to the venue and is only a bonkersly cheap £35 a night!

Since Brexit the pound has dropped like a stone and the Euro and £ are nearly at parity, making Northern Ireland extremely cheap for visitors from the south and other Euro areas. Are Tourism NI running ads in Dublin saying come to Northern Ireland, it’s cheap as chips? You would hope so. £110 a night for a 5 Star stay in the Lough Erne Golf Resort? Sign me up buttercup.

In addition to tourism, exports are now also cheaper, which is good news for manufacturers.

In my own area of IT services costs can be less than half the going rate in the North compared to Dublin. If you are a professional looking more work, hop on the Enterprise pronto. There is a huge skill shortage in Dublin. A canny business in Dublin should export their back office and other business functions to satellite offices in Northern Ireland and save themselves a small fortune.

My post title is not intended as negative. Poland has a great image as a cheap travel destination. And when it comes to Polish workers they have a fantastic reputation. They are the backbone of many a business in Ireland and the UK.

I have written before how I think Brexit will be a complete disaster for Northern Ireland but even I have to admit there can be some upsides to our new found competitiveness. We have traditionally been a low-cost area but now we are really low cost – we are talking Poundland low.

Any other suggestions on how we can embrace our new(er) low-cost status?

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