UK’s top tech start-ups lead call to Theresa May: “Protect access to EU talent”
Names behind Deliveroo, Crowdcube, Mind Candy, Shazam, and Zoopla among those to sign open letter to government urging support for tech 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:
- Theo Duchen, Co-CEO, Acturis
- Doug Monro, Co-Founder, Adzuna
- Stu Taylor, CEO & Co-Founder, Algomi
- Julien Hammerson, CEO, Calastone
- Darren Westlake, CEO, Crowdcube
- Dan Warne, MD UK & IE, Deliveroo
- Paul Chrimes, MD – Operations, eToro UK
- Andrew White, Founder & CEO, FundApps
- James Meekings, UK Managing Director and Co-Founder, Funding Circle
- Samir Desai, CEO and Co-Founder, Funding Circle
- Paul Sulyok, Founder and CEO, Green Man Gaming
- Andrew Pinnington, CEO, Hailo
- George Hadjigeorgiou, Former CEO , Housetrip
- Alastair Mitchell, President, CMO & Co-founder, Huddle
- James Dear, CTO and Co-Founder, iwoca
- Christoph Rieche, CEO, iwoca
- Asi Sharabi, CEO, Lost My Name
- Tal Oron, Founder, Lost My Name
- Mark Beilby, Chairman, Lumi
- Richard Taylor, CEO, Lumi
- Chris Morton, Founder and CEO, Lyst
- Ning Li, Founder and CEO, MADE.com
- Andrew Bucher, Co-Founder & Veterinary Director, MedicAnimal
- Ivan Retzignac, Founder and CEO, MedicAnimal
- Peter Bauer, CEO, Mimecast
- Michael Acton-Smith, Chairman, Mind Candy
- Ian Shaw, CEO, MWR Info Security
- Kevin Cornils, CEO, My Optique
- Andrew Taylor, Group CEO, Nomad Digital
- Demetrios Zoppos, Co-founder, OneFineStay
- Graham Cooke, CEO & Co-founder, Qubit
- Rhydian Lewis, CEO & Co-founder, RateSetter
- James Booth, CEO & Co-founder, Scoota
- Torie Chilcott, Co-founder, Scoota
- Tom Valentine, Chief Operating Officer & Co-Founder, Secret Escapes
- Andrew Fisher, Executive Chairman, Shazam
- Alicia Navarro, Co-Founder and CEO of Skimlinks
- Nick Day, CEO, Small World F.S.
- John Earner, CEO & Founder, Space Ape Games
- Thibault Hanin, Co-Founder & CTO, Synthesio
- Aldo Monteforte, CEO, The Floow
- Sarah Wood, Founder, Unruly
- Oliver Smith, Managing Director, EMEA, Unruly
- Ross Williams, Founder and Chairman, Venntro Media Group Limited
- Joe Murray, Co-CEO, Worldstores
- Jay Radia, CEO, Yieldify
- Alex Chesterman OBE, Founder & CEO, Zoopla Property Group Plc
- Giles Andrews, Chair and Co-founder, Zopa
If you want to sign the open letter, email parveen@techcityuk.com with your name and company.