No deterrent for Lego as toymaker expands its London base

[COPENHAGEN] Britain's planned exit from the European Union is proving no deterrent for the world's most profitable toymaker.

Lego A/S is expanding its London base, adding more than 50 per cent in office capacity to its operations in the UK, the Danish company said in a statement on Wednesday.

The "significant expansion" of a "strategically important office in the heart of London" will add to one of Lego's "main offices outside the headquarters" in western Denmark, the company said.

"The office will provide more space for current employees as well as ensure that the Lego Group can expand the employee base in London in the coming years depending on demand," it said.

The maker of toy plastic bricks, which has had employees in its main London office since 2014, now has 275 people working for it in the city. The expansion will be at Plough Place, close to Lego's office at New Fetter Lane, and will span two floors.

The announcement comes as Britain navigates the legal hurdles on its path toward a full divorce from the EU. Prime Minister Theresa May is pushing for a so-called hard Brexit, entailing a departure from the single market. The UK's highest court has ruled that parliament will have a say in the process.

Lego said late last year it was planning to raise prices by an average of five per cent in the UK, "as a direct result of the continued devaluing of the pound" that followed Britain's referendum to leave the EU, according to a copy of a letter published on the website of the Sun newspaper in December.

BLOOMBERG