No, the Raspberry Pi’s Production isn’t Moving Out of the UK

As a UK-based PC publication, it is understandable that we feel a little bit of national pride in the Raspberry Pi, the best selling British computer. Over the years we have seen Pi enthusiasts all over the world utilise the affordable hardware to do an innumerable number of tasks, being applied to tasks such as game emulation, home automation or the construction of ultra-affordable PCs.

Earlier today we saw reports that the Raspberry Pi’s production was moving out of the UK, with David Cleevely, the chairman of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, stating to his followers on Twitter that he was “laying the ground for moving manufacturing out of the UK because of Brexit”, citing the “tariff and certifications problems that it would cause.” Reports linking this to the Raspberry Pi as false, with Cleevely stating in later Tweets that the product in question is “not Raspberry Pi” and is “nothing to do with them”, referring to the Raspberry Pi foundation. Cleverly is involved with several businesses within the UK. 

As Brexit day, March 29th 2019, approaches, the UK government appears to be no closer to a final decision about what Brexit is than they were when the Referendum results were released. The slow-moving nature of today’s government has certainly bred a lot of uncertainty within the nation, especially amongst businesses and the manufacturing sector, both of which often rely on international trade. 

What we know is that a business plans to move production out of the UK and into another country, with Cleevely stating that the Netherlands and Ireland are likely candidates for the move due to their legal systems and their English language skills. Raspberry Pi production will continue in Wales.