Member Article

What Brexit could mean for UK technology companies

For UK businesses or foreign companies with UK units, the potential Brexit holds worrying consequences. The excellent connections, more open talent acquisition, and the globally understood language makes the UK a major attraction for international companies to host European headquarters. As a combined entity the EU is able to negotiate important international agreements compared with what the UK will be able to secure as a small, singular nation. For example the EU recently managed to secure the Data Protection agreement alongside the US which would have proved much more challenging if all connections and input from the EU were not available. Severing ties with the UK could not only damage business in terms of connections and accessibility, but investment too. If trade agreements change, investment is likely to do the same, which again makes international business challenging.

The English language means the UK is often looked to as the test market for technology companies before they expand into Europe or the US. As a result, the UK works as a hub for many European language resources for international products. So, the accessibility of skilled European resources is key for such companies and a Brexit scenario will put these at risk. The referendum will be a worrying time for UK and international business, we can only hope that the EU stays together to maintain the strong ties and connections it currently has to boost UK businesses.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Partho Bhattacharya .