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Airbus executives write staff letter warning of Brexit dangers Airbus executives write staff letter warning of Brexit dangers
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Airbus has told its staff that a vote to leave the EU could choke off future investment in the UK.Airbus has told its staff that a vote to leave the EU could choke off future investment in the UK.
Airbus, which employs 15,000 people in the UK to design and manufacture aircraft wings, said it was committed to its British operations regardless of the referendum result. But it said a vote to leave could make it rethink future decisions about where to invest the group’s money. In a letter signed by six senior Airbus executives, the company said: “We simply don’t know what ‘out’ looks like”. Airbus, which employs 15,000 people in the UK to design and manufacture aircraft wings, said it was committed to its British operations regardless of the referendum result. But it said a vote to leave could make it rethink future decisions about where to invest the group’s money. In a letter signed by six senior Airbus executives, the company said: “We simply don’t know what ‘out’ looks like.”
The aerospace giant’s letter came as a survey of Lloyd’s insurance workers found an overwhelming majority believe a British exit would be bad for the country’s £60bn insurance industry, and the chief executive of the London Stock Exchange gave vocal support for the EU.The aerospace giant’s letter came as a survey of Lloyd’s insurance workers found an overwhelming majority believe a British exit would be bad for the country’s £60bn insurance industry, and the chief executive of the London Stock Exchange gave vocal support for the EU.
Related: Boeing to cut 4,000 jobs as battle with Airbus continuesRelated: Boeing to cut 4,000 jobs as battle with Airbus continues
The Airbus letter, whose signatories include the firm’s UK president, Paul Kahn, said senior staff “firmly believe that it makes good economic sense to stay inside the EU”. The letter said: “Should the British electorate have a different view then clearly we wouldn’t cease our activities in the UK, which are highly important and very prominent. However, our business model is entirely based on our ability to move products, people and ideas around Europe without any restriction and we do not believe leaving will increase the competitiveness of our British-based operations. We all need to keep in the back of our minds that future investments depend very much on the economic environment in which the company operates.” The Airbus letter, whose signatories include the firm’s UK president, Paul Kahn, said senior staff “firmly believe that it makes good economic sense to stay inside the EU”.
The letter said: “Should the British electorate have a different view then clearly we wouldn’t cease our activities in the UK, which are highly important and very prominent. However, our business model is entirely based on our ability to move products, people and ideas around Europe without any restriction and we do not believe leaving will increase the competitiveness of our British-based operations. We all need to keep in the back of our minds that future investments depend very much on the economic environment in which the company operates.”
Airbus UK designs and engineers wings for aircraft, including the giant A380 “superjumbo”, at a facility in Filton, south Gloucestershire. The wings are made on the Welsh side of the border with England, at Broughton, near Chester.Airbus UK designs and engineers wings for aircraft, including the giant A380 “superjumbo”, at a facility in Filton, south Gloucestershire. The wings are made on the Welsh side of the border with England, at Broughton, near Chester.
Airbus employs 15,000 people in its UK network but estimates that its wing operations support about 100,000 jobs through the supply chain. Airbus estimates that its wing operations support about 100,000 jobs through the supply chain.
About 70% of insurance professionals said leaving the EU would either hurt or severely damage 300-year-old Lloyd’s of London, the world’s biggest insurance market. 6.2% said that leaving the EU would benefit the industry, according to a survey by City of London consultancy Haggie Partners. About 70% of insurance professionals said leaving the EU would either hurt or severely damage 300-year-old Lloyd’s of London, the world’s biggest insurance market. But 6.2% said that leaving the EU would benefit the industry, according to a survey by City of London consultancy Haggie Partners.
The campaign to remain in Europe also won vociferous support from Xavier Rolet, the French chief executive of London Stock Exchange, which is in the midst of a merger with Germany’s Deutsche Börse. Rolet said a Brexit would not only do damage to the UK economy but could also cause economic problems around the world. “I think this would be a geopolitical event that would reverberate way beyond the European Union,” he said. “I think it would be devastating to the economy of the United Kingdom, and would not be good for anyone with their headquarters in the European Union. The gaze of the United States would have to move back towards Europe, with a view to putting Humpty Dumpty back together again,” he said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. The campaign to remain in Europe also won vociferous support from Xavier Rolet, the French chief executive of London Stock Exchange, which is in the midst of a merger with Germany’s Deutsche Börse. Rolet said a Brexit would not only do damage the UK economy but could also cause economic problems around the world.
Chief executives of 36 British major companies including easyJet, BAE Systems and Shell signed a letter in February, in support of the UK’s continued membership of the EU. But advocates of the UK leaving the EU point to support from about 250 business figures, including former HSBC chief executive Michael Geoghegan and Carphone Warehouse founder David Ross. “I think this would be a geopolitical event that would reverberate way beyond the European Union,” he said. “I think it would be devastating to the economy of the United Kingdom, and would not be good for anyone with their headquarters in the European Union. The gaze of the United States would have to move back towards Europe, with a view to putting Humpty Dumpty back together again,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
Chief executives of 36 British major companies including easyJet, BAE Systems and Shell signed a letter in February, in support of the UK’s continued membership of the EU. But advocates of the UK leaving the EU point to support from around 250 business figures, including former HSBC chief executive Michael Geoghegan and Carphone Warehouse founder David Ross.