UK-US Trade Deal Thread

[Scot Dutchy]

The ex-pats which is why Green's went out of business. They ran out of ex-pats.

[Svartalf]

but why, is the Netherlands so infernal that the expats went back home? (or to France or Germany maybe)

[Scot Dutchy]

but why, is the Netherlands so infernal that the expats went back home? (or to France or Germany maybe)

Dont know Svarty. There are not many of them around these days. The ones we have contact with are all long term/permanent ones.
There used to be plenty on three year contracts which was the bread and butter of the British School and housing agencies.
The BSN is now centring its upper school around the International Baccalaureate attracting non-British ex-pats.

They have just left. The British Women's Club is closing after 60 years.

[laklak]

It's the same the world over. In expat Africa the contracts started drying up maybe 15 -20 years ago. Most people were out on 3 year gigs. Now the only ones left are people who went native like Mrs. Lak.

[Scot Dutchy]

It's the same the world over. In expat Africa the contracts started drying up maybe 15 -20 years ago. Most people were out on 3 year gigs. Now the only ones left are people who went native like Mrs. Lak.

When I came here there were 50 to 60 thousand British and Irish ex-pats working here. The second language was English. There were about 20 English speaking water holes. It was really home from home having all the advantages of Dutch society. As an ex-pat if you had managed to work for six months you could claim unemployment benefit for two years.
In the 70's the oil crisis changed everything. A huge amount of American companies pulled out. I went back to Scotland for six years. When I came back at the end of the 70's there was only one English pub open and a couple of Irish ones. Only a few ex-pats working for Dutch-British companies like Shell and Unilever.
Those heavy ex-pat days have never returned. Now there are even fewer and the ones staying are almost to a man applying for Dutch nationality which now requires you to give up your previous nationality so in fact they are not ex-pats any longer.

[Rum]

It is also true of Hong Kong. I'm still in touch with a few people there and have discussed the issue a few times. Obviously there China took the place over in 97, though this didn't in itself have a great deal of impact surprisingly. What people reco is that the differentials in education and the required qualifications for certain positions have equalized. Engineering - a big thing in places like HK was a big draw for Americans. Local Unis now offer those degrees and so no need for expats. I would think the same applies to a lot of ex colonies.

[Scot Dutchy]

It was the Marshall Plan that brought so many American especially engineering companies here. They worked in the beginning to American standards because the Dutch ones needed to be rewritten. Once that happened and the country got back on its feet there was heavy competition from local Dutch companies and many smaller American companies left leaving the really big players but even these did not survive the oil crisis. Shell whose original name was BPM (Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij). Bataaf was the old name for Indonesia and maatschappij just means company also you can see where BP came from which was turned into British Petroleum. Employed many ex-pats who moved around the world.

[Hermit]

...you can see where BP came from...

Yes. It's obvious. Just say "BP" out loud.

[Scot Dutchy]

In English yes but not in Dutch.

[Hermit]

In English yes but not in Dutch.

Well, it started off as a British company, so it makes sense to pronounce "BP" in English, don't you think?

[Scot Dutchy]

It was a merger of two companies. One Dutch and one English. The Dutch company had the largest share. The Royal Dutch came from the BPM so BP had nothing to do with Britain. Shell was the British name.

The Royal Dutch Shell Group was created in April 1907 through the amalgamation of two rival companies: the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company (Dutch: Koninklijke Nederlandse Petroleum Maatschappij) of the Netherlands and the Shell Transport and Trading Company Limited of the United Kingdom.[16] It was a move largely driven by the need to compete globally with Standard Oil.[17] The Royal Dutch Petroleum Company was a Dutch company founded in 1890 to develop an oilfield in Pangkalan Brandan, North Sumatra,[18] and initially led by August Kessler, Hugo Loudon, and Henri Deterding. The "Shell" Transport and Trading Company (the quotation marks were part of the legal name) was a British company, founded in 1897 by Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted, and his brother Samuel Samuel.[19] Their father had owned an antique company in Houndsditch, London,[20] which expanded in 1833 to import and sell seashells, after which the company "Shell" took its name.[16][21]

For various reasons, the new firm operated as a dual-listed company, whereby the merging companies maintained their legal existence, but operated as a single-unit partnership for business purposes. The terms of the merger gave 60 percent ownership of the new group to the Dutch arm and 40 percent to the British.[22]

National patriotic sensibilities would not permit a full-scale merger or takeover of either of the two companies.[22] The Dutch company, Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij at The Hague, was in charge of production and manufacture.[23] The British Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company was based in London, to direct the transport and storage of the products.[23]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Dutch_Shell

Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij

Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij or Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij (better known as BPM), Dutch for Batavian Oil Company, was a subsidiary of the Royal Dutch Shell oil company established in 1907 which extracted and refined oil in the Netherlands East Indies, now Indonesia.[1][2] The company is the predecessor of Pertamina.

[Hermit]

It was a merger of two companies. One Dutch and one English. The Dutch company had the largest share.

It was not a merger. It was a temporary marketing venture, beginning in 1932 and ending in 1976.

[Scot Dutchy]

Dont be tiring.

For various reasons, the new firm operated as a dual-listed company, whereby the merging companies maintained their legal existence

Change it in Wiki then.

[Hermit]

Dont be tiring.

For various reasons, the new firm operated as a dual-listed company, whereby the merging companies maintained their legal existence

Change it in Wiki then.

No need. I linked to the relevant Wikipedia article.

[Scot Dutchy]

My quote was from the same article. So you are going to have to tell them or alter it.