Brexit fears for UK shop owners in Germany

BERLIN, Mar 31 (AFP): As the United Kingdom grapples with its Brexit drama, the uncertainty around its decision to leave the EU persuaded Dale Carr to close down her Berlin shop selling British goods.

The 67-year-old from Sheffield and her husband Robin in 1996 opened "Broken English", a shop selling British goods to homesick expats and Germans with a taste for UK treats in the trendy district of Kreuzberg.

But things changed in June 2016 when British voters opted to pull out of the EU and the couple, unsure about the future, decided to close their business by the end of May this year.

"We decided we would close, because of the uncertainty-not knowing if we could carry on," said Carr, who also shut a second Broken English shop in west Berlin last year.

Carr and her husband, who first came to Berlin in 1978, will retire, leaving her two employees out of work, unless a buyer is found.

Visiting customers-stocking up on Stilton, chocolate biscuits and chutney-said they were dismayed by the UK's decision to leave the EU.

"I think it's a joke, a bad joke," said German Manfred Denker, clutching a box of biscuits.

"After Brexit, what is something like a jar of English marmalade going to cost?"

In the wake of the referendum result, Carr and her husband submitted their paperwork for German citizenship-"it was a no brainer," she said-and the process was finalised in the middle of 2017.

"I was very grateful to get German citizenship," she admitted. "That was a weight off my shoulders and I didn't realise how stressful it had been until we got our certificates."

After the referendum result, the shop became an unofficial drop-in centre for other Brits working in Berlin, worried how Brexit would affect their rights, and eager to apply for German citizenship.

"It (Brexit) has damaged a lot of people, it's affected all of us and it will take a long time for that to disappear," she said.

"It has divided people," said Carr, who says she has lost friends who voted "Leave".

Carr says business is currently booming, which she puts down to customers stockpiling goods and Easter approaching.

Up in Hamburg, Robert Berridge, who owns the "British Food and Gourmet", has seen sales of foodstuffs steadily drop away since 2016.

"A lot of customers have stopped buying, some are annoyed (by Brexit) and don't want to be reminded of home," said the 60-year-old from Ascot who moved to Germany in 1981 and started the business in 1985.