UK’s top tech start-ups lead call to Theresa May: “Protect access to EU talent”

A group of names behind some of the country’s most prolific and fastest-growing tech businesses have come together to sign an open letter urging prime minister Theresa May to protect access to tech talent once the Brexit negotiations begin.

The letter, signed by founders and executives of Tech City Future 50 companies and alumni such as Deliveroo and Mind Candy, suggests that founders and tech employees are concerned that Britain’s exit from the EU will hamper their ability to hire talented tech staff and will deter tech talent from wanting to come to join, or set-up, tech businesses in the UK.

In the letter, published on Tech City UK’s website here, the founders explain that as the “UK has become a number one spot in Europe for tech start-ups, with 40% of all European tech unicorns (companies valued at $1bn or more) based here […] hiring international talent is essential to growth”.

The letters goes on to read: “If tech communities were no longer able to recruit workers from the 27 EU countries, or from other states, many businesses would see their growth slow down. Government measures in recent years to encourage founders and entrepreneurs to invest in the UK would be wasted.

“As tech company founders we want to work with government to find solutions to the digital industries’ need for international talent. Only with a steady flow of international and home-grown talent, British tech can continue to compete on the world’s stage.”

The entrepreneurs that have signed the open letter, so far, include:

1. Theo Duchen, Co-CEO, Acturis
2. Doug Monro, Co-Founder, Adzuna
3. Stu Taylor, CEO & Co-Founder, Algomi
4. Julien Hammerson, CEO, Calastone
5. Darren Westlake, CEO, Crowdcube
6. Dan Warne, MD UK & IE, Deliveroo
7. Paul Chrimes, MD – Operations, eToro UK
8. Andrew White, Founder & CEO, FundApps
9. James Meekings, UK Managing Director and Co-Founder, Funding Circle
10. Samir Desai, CEO and Co-Founder, Funding Circle
11. Paul Sulyok, Founder and CEO, Green Man Gaming
12. Andrew Pinnington, CEO, Hailo
13. George Hadjigeorgiou, Former CEO , Housetrip
14. Alastair Mitchell, President, CMO & Co-founder, Huddle
15. James Dear, CTO and Co-Founder, iwoca
16. Christoph Rieche, CEO, iwoca
17. Asi Sharabi, CEO, Lost My Name
18. Tal Oron, Founder, Lost My Name
19. Mark Beilby, Chairman, Lumi
20. Richard Taylor, CEO, Lumi
21. Chris Morton, Founder and CEO, Lyst
22. Ning Li, Founder and CEO, MADE.com
23. Andrew Bucher, Co-Founder & Veterinary Director, MedicAnimal
24. Ivan Retzignac, Founder and CEO, MedicAnimal
25. Peter Bauer, CEO, Mimecast
26. Michael Acton-Smith, Chairman, Mind Candy
27. Ian Shaw, CEO, MWR Info Security
28. Kevin Cornils, CEO, My Optique
29. Andrew Taylor, Group CEO, Nomad Digital
30. Demetrios Zoppos, Co-founder, OneFineStay
31. Graham Cooke, CEO & Co-founder, Qubit
32. Rhydian Lewis, CEO & Co-founder, RateSetter
33. James Booth, CEO & Co-founder, Scoota
34. Torie Chilcott, Co-founder, Scoota
35. Tom Valentine, Chief Operating Officer & Co-Founder, Secret Escapes
36. Andrew Fisher, Executive Chairman, Shazam
37. Alicia Navarro, Co-Founder and CEO of Skimlinks
38. Nick Day, CEO, Small World F.S.
39. John Earner, CEO & Founder, Space Ape Games
40. Thibault Hanin, Co-Founder & CTO, Synthesio
41. Aldo Monteforte, CEO, The Floow
42. Sarah Wood, Founder, Unruly
43. Oliver Smith, Managing Director, EMEA, Unruly
44. Ross Williams, Founder and Chairman, Venntro Media Group Limited
45. Joe Murray, Co-CEO, Worldstores
46. Jay Radia, CEO, Yieldify
47. Alex Chesterman OBE, Founder & CEO, Zoopla Property Group Plc
48. Giles Andrews, Chair and Co-founder, Zopa

If you want to sign the open letter, email parveen@techcityuk.com with your name and company.