Japanese electronics company Panasonic is moving its headquarters from London to Amsterdam following Britain’s decision to leave the EU in March next year, the Nikkei Asian Review  reports on Thursday.

The company had been contemplating the move for 15 months, Panasonic Europe chief executive Laurent Abadie told the paper.

Abadie says Britain’s plans to lower corporate tax to retain international companies within its borders could earn it a tax haven designation and this would make the companies liable for a vast tax bill at home.

Moving would also avoid Brexit-related barriers of the flow of goods and people, Abadie said.

Panasonic employs 20 to 30 people in its London office of whom 10 to 20 will make the move to Amsterdam. According to the paper, it is very rare for a Japanese manufacturer to make the move from the UK by citing Brexit as the reason.

Earlier big Japanese bank Mitsubishi UFG decided to make Amsterdam its new European base for investment banking.

Amsterdam is actively lobbying to attract British companies post-Brexit. According to the Guardian in 2017 alone some 20 companies made the move and up to 100 firms,  are ‘actively exploring’ the possibility.