Simon Segars, the chief executive of Britain’s biggest technology firm, has warned the Government's plans to clamp down on immigration from the European Union in the event of a hard Brexit would damage his business.
In the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the EU, the debate has switched to what relationship the two should have post-Brexit. The Government has hinted it is headed for a so-called hard Brexit which means leaving the single market and an end to freedom of movement.
But Arm Holdings chief executive said putting a limit on the number of foreign workers would be a mistake and could hamper his company’s plans for growth.
Speaking to the Financial Times, he said: “We have 300 people in Cambridge right now from mainland Europe, and more could start tomorrow.”
“If there was some law enacted that said every employee has to be from the UK, the business would fail.”
He emphasised that “access to people” was crucial for his business.
“There are a finite number of [UK] engineers with the right skills we can hire, we have to be able to play unencumbered on a global playing field, that’s really important for us.”
Arm Holdings is set to fall into foreign ownership after the company accepted a £24.3 billion offer from Japanese group SoftBank in July.
The deal is the biggest takeover of a British company since the Brexit vote and comes after the pound fell against the Japanese yen.
SoftBank pledged to keep ARM’s headquarters in Cambridge and to at least double employee headcount in the UK in the next five years.
Segars said it remained unclear whether the negotiations between the EU and the UK would endanger that target, but warned that it could slow down Arm's hiring process.
“If we have to go through some form of visa process to get the skills that we need, that will slow us down,” Segars said.
His comments come as Prime Minister Theresa May faced fresh criticism from senior conservatives for her "unsustainable" Brexit strategy.
Andrew Tyrie, the chair of the Treasury Select Committee, said the Prime Minister’s reticence was in danger of creating “considerable cost to the UK” as businesses planned for the worst when it came to investment.
Tyrie’s comments came after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused the Prime Minister of staging a “chaotic Brexit”, and Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon branded Brexit talks in Westminster “deeply frustrating”.
