Huyton-based John Mason International Movers has seen the number of people leaving the country rise by 33% since the EU Referendum in 2016. Tony McDonough reports

A Merseyside removals firms that specialises in helping people to move overseas is reporting a surge in the number of people citing Brexit as their main reason for quitting the UK.

Huyton-based John Mason International Movers has seen the number of people leaving the country rise by 33% since the EU Referendum and currently helps around 10,000 people make the move each year.

And, it says, that 53% of people it has helped move abroad since the 2016 vote cite Brexit as the main reason for their decision. The most popular destinations for British residents starting a post-Brexit life overseas include Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and South Africa.

Seven in 10 of movers surveyed by the firm said Brexit had had a “negative impact” which contributed to them emigrating. Just 3% of those surveyed felt that Brexit had had a “positive impact” and made them think twice about leaving.

John Mason director Simon Hood said: “We’ve seen a huge rise in the number of customers trusting John Mason International to help with overseas moves in the past couple of years, and we were interested to see if Brexit had anything to do with it.

“We never anticipated we’d end up with figures like this, which suggest that more than half of the people we’ve helped start a new life in a new country since the EU referendum did so because of Brexit.

“John Mason International has been helping people to leave the UK because of the climate for more than a century, but we’ve never seen so many people leave because of the political climate.

“A recent survey by the Institute of Directors found that 29% of businesses are currently thinking of relocating overseas because of Brexit, so there’s every reason to suggest that this possible Brexit exodus is far from over”

The business was found in in Wavertree in 1884 and is accredited by the British Association of Removers (BAR) and the International Federation of International Movers (FIDI).