ONGOING SALES OF BRITISH BUSINESSES

News today of the sale of the British cereal company Weetabix to Chinese company Bright Food marks yet another sale of a successful, long-established British company being sold off to international companies. Whilst in the short-term it demonstrates an interest in, and the value of, the British economy; in the long-term it can have several negative effects. When owned by a company outside of the UK, the is arguably a greater risk that operations could be completely removed from the UK- jeopardising hundreds of British jobs for certain communities. It also dwindles the impact the British government can have on the company so that it assists national interests, and in cultural terms also represents a loss for the country. Weetabix is the latest of many companies to be sold off, including Abbey National (now owned by a Spanish company), Cadbury (now owned by an American company) and EMI record company (also now owned by an American company.