Jobs for British people
People say that there’s a lot of uncertainty about what will happen if Britain votes in this Thursday's referendum to remain in the EU or to leave the EU. Many find this uncertainty confusing, making it difficult for people to decide which way to vote.
My job, which is about making venture capital investments in high growth technology companies around the world, gives me access to some information on this which isn’t generally available. I know, from private discussions around these companies' board tables, exactly what they plan to do depending on which way Britain votes. Two such companies are good examples of what I hear all the time.
The first is a large, US headquartered technology company which is creating new jobs very rapidly. It’s going to set up an operations centre in Europe to look after its growing roster of customers all around Europe. The new operations centre will create lot of new jobs, and the company needs to decide where to site it. At the company’s most recent board meeting, in May, they reviewed the options – the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands. The UK would be the natural location but the decision was deferred until after our referendum. The company decided that if Britain votes to leave the EU then the operations centre will definitely not come to the UK, as they need it to be located within the EU. The jobs will go to Ireland or the Netherlands instead.
The second company is run by a serial entrepreneur who moved from France to Britain some 12 years ago and then started his company here. It’s another really exciting technology business, selling to large customers around the world. It’s the kind of company that really could base itself anywhere. The issue at stake is the entrepreneur himself. As a foreigner he needs to feel welcome where he lives, and his view is that if Britain votes to leave then he’ll simply feel unwelcome in the UK. He won’t leave these shores straight away, but he will make plans for the future and, one day in the future, leave he will. So he’ll start his next company somewhere else, not in Britain.
These two examples are typical of what I hear in the technology industry. So it’s clear – if the UK votes to leave, British jobs will be lost. If the UK votes to remain, new jobs will come to Britain.
Partner at Real Assets Investment Management
8 年Nailed it Richard. Fingers crossed.
Business Analysis & Solution Design: Allianz Commercial
8 年https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USTypBKEd8Y
CEO, Panoramic Digital Health & Prof Digital Health, UCL.
8 年Helpful insights. UK Bioscience will I suspect be even more impacted than general tech. The other point I have come across is investors - both VC and smaller end of public market - sitting on their hands until after the vote, especially in higher risk sectors. Have you seen any of that? The venture financing environment for tech and life sciences is also critical to those sectors.
Director of Pogo Digital HealthCare, Author of The Creative Thinking Book, Inspired Thinking, Positive Thinking, The Entrepreneur's Book, and Changing Course.
8 年great post Richard
Managing Partner at Tetractys Partners LLP - open to non-executive roles
8 年If we exit, while our business will remain in the UK, we will need an EU-domiciled subsidiary/group company and I suspect more job growth will be in the EU entity based on the discussions we have had. Gove and Johnson have never set up a business and have no idea what drives the people who do - for all their empty rhetoric about helping entrepreneurs.