The UK’s most powerful technology leaders are warning Prime Minister David Cameron that their businesses will suffer if he follows through with plans to reduce the number of skilled migrant workers entering the UK from outside Europe.
In an open letter, 235 of the nation’s leading entrepreneurs and investors asked the Prime Minister to reconsider plans that will make it even harder for them to employ skilled workers outside the EU.
The people behind the letter, which was orchestrated by Coadec (The Coalition for a Digital Economy), hail from some of the UK’s best-known technology companies including Google DeepMind, Citymapper, Shazam, and SwiftKey.
Autonomy founder and billionaire Mike Lynch also gave his signature, as did angel investor Sherry Coutu and sharing economy advocate Debbie Wosskow, both of whom have written reports for the government in the last year and advised it on how to support the UK's digital economy.
It's worth noting that around 20 of the signatories also signed the pre-election tech letter in The Guardian backing the Tories.
One of the most prominent names not to appear on the list of signatories this time round is venture capitalist and government advisor Eileen Burbidge. However, Burbidge has told Business Insider on previous occasions that immigration and allowing UK tech firms to hire skilled talent should be a number one priority for government.
"We absolutely need highly skilled talent," Burbidge said last month. "It’s difficult because obviously there’s a larger political narrative which is about the stress on social services of an ever-growing population, but I think that what we can do are small measures, small things about making sure that we know where certain pockets exist for need or demand, and how to service that."
Given that Burbidge is now chair of Tech City UK and therefore a government spokesperson, it's likely that she felt she was unable to support a government lobbying effort. However, Business Insider understands that she will be doing all she can in her role as Tech City UK chair and UK fintech envoy to ensure the government doesn't clamp down on skilled immigration.
Following the general election, Cameron’s Tory government revealed that it planned to "significantly reduce" the number of skilled workers coming to Britain from outside the EU. He said this was necessary as net migration levels were at record levels.
The letter comes as the government’s Migration Advisory Committee consults how the UK can further tighten rules around the entrepreneur visa, which allows those outside the EU to come to Britain and start a business, and the Tier 2 visa, which enables UK technology companies to hire people from outside the EU and bridge skills gaps.
Companies like Google and Facebook rely on the Tier 2 visa to bring staff from their US offices to their London offices.
The government is exploring whether it should raise the minimum salary threshold on the Tier 2 visa so that it only applies to people working at director-level roles.
Sarah Wood, CEO and cofounder of Unruly, said: "If the government is serious about growing Britain's digital economy and competing on a global stage, it cannot afford to cut off the oxygen that feeds our ecosystem - skilled talent from around the world, drawn to London and the UK precisely because of its diversity, creativity and vitality.
"We simply could not have scaled the business to the size it is today (15 offices, £28.7m revenue) without the programming expertise and language skills of international software engineers and digital professionals from around the world."
Tech City UK estimates that 1.46 million people work in the UK's digital economy, which represents 10% of the UK’s GDP, and is the biggest and fastest-growing of the G20, set to hit 12% of GDP next year.
"The UK has become a global tech hub thanks in large part to startup founders, investors and employees from across the globe, including many of us who were not born in Britain but choose to invest our time and talents here,” the letter reads.
"We call on you to ensure that any future changes to the immigration system make it easier, not harder, for qualified digital entrepreneurs to come to the UK to start their business, and for growing startups to hire top international talent."
Guy Levin, executive director of Coadec and a former political advisor to the Treasury, said any changes to the immigration system must make it easier, not harder, for digital entrepreneurs to come to the UK to start their business and for growing startups to hire top international talent.
A 2013 O2 report, The Future Digital Skills Needs of the UK Economy, estimated that 745,000 additional workers with digital skills would be needed to meet rising demand from employers between 2013 and 2017. Halfway through that time frame companies are still crying out for talented workers with certain skills.
The letter acknowledges that the government has taken a number of steps to support the UK's digital economy, including giving tax breaks to investors that back startups through the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS), and its support for the sharing economy.
The government also relaxed the rules around the Tier 1 Exceptional Talent visa, allowing companies to hire groups of five people at once and opening it up to those that show "exceptional promise."
Here's the letter itself:
Dear Prime Minister,
We represent a cross-section of the UK’s digital startup and scale-up ecosystem, including the founders of Citymapper, DeepMind, JustPark and SwiftKey. The UK has the largest and fastest growing digital economy in the G20, worth over 10pc of GDP.
During the election campaign you argued that the UK should be 'the startup nation in Europe, and one of the great startup nations in the world'. We share this ambition and applaud your government’s long-standing support for the UK’s tech community. From SEIS to support for FinTech and the sharing economy, you have championed entrepreneurs and innovators in the interest of securing our country’s long-term economic growth.
However, finding talent with the right skills and experience we need to grow our businesses remains one of the biggest barriers to achieving that ambition. The UK has become a global tech hub thanks in large part to startup founders, investors and employees from across the globe, including many of us who were not born in Britain but choose to invest our time and talents here. We are very concerned that changes to immigration policy will make it more difficult to attract and recruit the talent high-growth companies need to compete and succeed in a global marketplace.
The government’s Migration Advisory Committee is currently examining proposals aiming to further restrict the Tier 2 system of skilled work visas and to reform the Entrepreneur Visa. Further restrictions on skilled migration could restrict the growth of our businesses and hurt the UK’s digital economy.
We call on you to ensure that any future changes to the immigration system make it easier, not harder, for qualified digital entrepreneurs to come to the UK to start their business, and for growing startups to hire top international talent.
It is of course also vital that we continue to support the growth of digital skills within the UK, and we stand ready to do our part.
Sincerely yours,
Adam Horner
Co-founder and CTO, Satago
Adrian Lloyd
Founder & Partner, Episode 1 Ventures
Adrian Sevitz
Co-founder, vzaar limited
Alain Falys
Co-founder, Yoyo Wallet
Alasdair McPherson
Partner, Craigie Capital
Alastair Paterson
CEO, Digital Shadows
Alena Dundas
Founder, Gymdeck
Alex Loizou
Co-founder, Streethub
Alex Stephany
CEO, JustPark
Alexander Asseily
Founder, State, Jawbone and Elvie
Alexander Trewby
Co-founder, Divide (acquired by Google)
Alexandra Depledge
Co-founder, Hassle.com
Alexandre Dalyac
Co-founder, Tractable
Alice Bentinck
Co-founder, Entrepreneur First
Alice Taylor
CEO, Makielab
Alicia Navarro
CEO, Skimlinks
Alliott Cole
Director, Octopus Ventures
Amy Lai
Founder and CEO, Wittos
Andrew Evans
Co-founder and CEO, Smart Pension
Andrew Fisher
Executive Chairman, Shazam
Andrew Gibb
Founder, Coldpress
Andrew Hunter
Co-founder, Adzuna
Andrew Jervis
Co-founder, Clickmechanic
Andrew Scott
Founder partner, 7percent Ventures
Andrew Tibbitts
COO, TechHub
Andrius Sutas
Co-founder, AimBrain
Andy Bennett
Founder, Knodium Ltd
Andy Hobsbawm
Founder, EVRYTHNG
Andy Stephenson
Founder, Weekend Box
Aneesh Varma
Founder, Aire
Anirvan Lahiri
Co-founder, The Stay Guru
Ankur Modi
CEO, StatusToday
Anne Johnson
Founder, Cunning Systems
Anthony Eskinazi
Founder, JustPark
Anton Wellenreiter
Partner, Charlotte Street Capital
Azmat Yusuf
Founder, Citymapper
Ben Drury
Co-founder, 7digital
Ben Gateley
Co-founder and COO, The Eleven
Ben Medlock
Co-founder/CTO, SwiftKey
Ben Perreau
Co-founder, Synkio
Ben Whately
Co-founder, Memrise
Bernhard Niesner
Co-founder, Busuu
Bill Earner
Managing Partner, Connect Ventures
Bindi Karia
Startup expert, connector and advisor
Bo Pedersen
Partner, Charlotte Street Capital
Brendan Gill
CEO, OpenSignal
Bruce Beckloff
Managing Partner, Bloc Ventures
Bryce Keane
Founder, Albion Drive
Cecile Baird
CMO, Credits
Charlie Newman
Co-founder, Pinipa
Charlie Osmond
Founder, TripTease
Charlotte Lacombe-Bar
Co-founder, Mooshoo Labs
Chris Dawson
Co-founder, One Utility Bill
Christian Hernandez
Co-founder, White Star Capital
Christopher Hunter
Co-founder, Odyssey Sensors
Colette Ballou
Founder, Ballou PR
Constantin Bjerke
Founder, Crane.tv
Dale Knight
Co-founder, One Utility Bill
Damien Lane
Partner, Episode1
Dan Bladen
Founder, Chargifi
Dan Sutherland
Founder, Carrenza
Daneal Bassiouni
Co-founder, Homefund
Daniel Benamran
General Manager UK, BlaBlaCar
Daniel van Binsbergen
Co-founder, Lexoo
David Cleevely
Founder, Cambridge Angels
David Fogel
Deputy Director, Wayra UK
David Galsworthy
Co-founder and CEO, TechSpace
Debbie Wosskow
Co-founder, Love Home Swap
Demis Hassabis
Co-founder, DeepMind
Devin Hunt
Partner, Founder Centric
Doug Monro
Co-founder, Adzuna
Douglas Bell
Founder, London Innovators
Eamon Jubbawy
Co-founder, Onfido
Edward Chin
Co-founder, Supersolid
Eeswaran Navaratnam
Managing Partner, 01Ventures
Elizabeth Varley
Co-founder, TechHub
Emanuel Andjelic
Co-founder, Squirrel
Emily Forbes
Founder, Seenit
Emma Sinclair
Co-founder, EnterpriseJungle
Eoin Hyde
Co-founder, Innersight Labs
Eric van der Kleij
Head of Level39 & MD Entiq
Evgeny Shadchnev
Co-founder, Makers Academy
Faith Forster
Founder, Pinipa
Felix Leuschner
Founder, Drover App
Florian Stronk
Co-founder, Koyoki
Frank Kelcz
Founder, Excellerance
Gary Thompson
Founder, GoRaise
Gavin Sathianathan
Partner, Kingsley Capital Partners
George Bevis
CEO, TIDE
George Marangos-Gilks
Founder, The Tab
George Spencer
CEO, Rentify
George Whitehead
Chairman, Angel Cofund
Gi Fernando
Founder, Freeformers
Gideon Farrell
Co-founder, Converge
Gil Dibner
Investor
Giles Andrew
Executive chairman and Co-founder, Zopa
Giovanni Charles
Co-founder, Fluently.io
Glenn Shoosmith
CEO, BookingBug
Gus Ferguson
Managing Partner, The Tetrad Consultancy
Guy Levin
Executive Director, Coadec
Haakon Overli
General Partner, Dawn Capital
Harry Briggs
Partner, BGF Ventures
Helen Cammack
Co-founder, interests.me
Henry Firth
Founder, Pingtune
Hermann Hauser
Partner Amadeus Capital Partners and serial entrepreneur
Hugh Collins
Co-founder, Code Kingdoms
Husayn Kassai
Co-founder, Onfido
Hussein Kanji
Founding Partner, Hoxton Ventures
Ilya Levtov
Co-founder, Craft.co
Irra Ariella Khi
CEO, V Technology
Itamar Lesuisse
CEO, Peak
Jack Huang
Co-founder, TRULY Experiences
Jamal MonDesir
Founder, MADFoundry
James Gill
CEO, GoSquared
Jamie Edwards
COO, Kayako
Jason Bolton
Co-founder, Mooshoo Labs
Jeff Lynn
Co-founder, Seedrs
Jennifer Arcuri
Founder, InnoTech Summit
Jenny Griffiths
Founder, Snap Fashion
Jeppe Zink
Partner, Northzone
Jessica Williamson
Programme Director, TechStars
Jo York
CCO/CMO, Reframed.tv
Joe Cohen
Founder, Seatwave
Joe Root
Co-founder, Permutive
Joelle Hadfield
Co-founder, FightsMe.com
John Hackett
MD, ArenaFlowers.com
John Henderson
Principal, White Star Capital
John Spindler
CEO, Capital Enterprise
John Thompson
CEO, UserReplay
Jon Bradford
Co-founder, F6S & tech.eu
Jon Petrides
Co-founder, Guevara & Penda Health
Jordan Emery
MD, Quella
Josh Russell
Partner, Rokk3r Labs
Joshua March
Co-founder and CEO, Conversocial
Julian Carter
Co-founder, EC1 Capital
Julian Ranger
Founder, digi.me
Julie Meyer
Founder, EntrepreneurCountry; CEO, Ariadne Capital
Kate Unsworth
CEO, Kovert Designs
Kevin Price
CEO, Reframed.tv
Kieran O'Neill
Co-founder, Thread
Kristo Kaarmann
Co-founder, TransferWise
Leonard Austin
Co-founder, Ravelin
Lloyd Price
Co-founder, Zesty
Lopo Champalimaud
Co-founder, Wahanda
Luke Lang
Co-founder, Crowdcube
Mads Holmen
Founder, Bibblio
Mait Muntel
Co-founder, Lingvist
Marcus Greenwood
CEO, Universal Basket
Mark Russell
Co-founder, Universal Basket
Mark Ryan
Co-founder, Blooie
Marko Srsan
Programme Operator, TechStars
Martha Lane Fox
Co-founder, Lastminute.com
Martin Bailie
Co-founder, Tailored
Martin Sweeney
CEO, Ravelin
Matt Clifford
Co-founder, Entrepreneur First
Melvin Salas
Co-founder, Leaf.fm
Michael Thornton
Co-founder, Carbon Analytics
Mike Butcher
Co-founder, TechHub
Mike Lynch
Founder, Invoke Capital
Mike Minett
Co-founder and MD, The Positive Ageing Company
Monty Munford
Founder, Mob76
Mustafa Suleyman
Co-founder, DeepMind
Nabil Freeman
Founder, Freeman Industries
Nic Brisbourne
Managing Partner, Forward Partners
Nic Yeeles
Founder and CEO, Peg
Nicholas Katz
Co-founder, Splittable
Nicholas Russell
Founder, We Are Pop Up
Nicholas Sharp
Associate, Passion Capital
Nick Hungerford
Co-founder and CEO, Nutmeg
Nick Lally
Co-founder, Ravelin
Nigel Whiteoak
Founder, LoveCrafts
Oleg Fomenko
Co-founder, SweatCoin, bloom.fm
Oli Ashness
Founder, Simply Cook
Oliver Pugh
Founder, EarlyBird.fm
Patrick Stobbs
Co-founder, Jukedeck
Paul McNabb
Partner, Episode1
Paul Miller
Partner, Bethnal Green Ventures
Paul Slater
Co-founder, Fit Gurus Ltd
Paul Smith
MD, Ignite and Campus North
Pip Jamieson
Founder, The Dots
Prasanna Kannan
Co-founder, Homefund
Pratik Sampat
CEO, iHorizon
Raj Ramanandi
CEO, #1Seed
Rajeeb Dey
Founder, Enternships
Raph Crouan
MD, Startupbootcamp IOT
Rashid Mansoor
Co-founder, Adbrain
Razvan Ranca
Co-founder, Tractable
Reshma Sohoni
Partner and Co-founder, Seedcamp
Rhydian Lewis
Co-founder and CEO, Ratesetter
River Tamoor Baig
Co-founder, Hack Partners
Rob O'Donovan
Co-Founder of The Eleven and CharlieHR.com
Robert Dighero
Partner, Passion Capital
Robin Klein
Co-founder, The Accelerator Group and LocalGlobe
Rohan Luvaglio
Founder and CEO, Bizzby
Ruhul Amin
Co-founder, Onfido
Russ Shaw
Founder, Tech London Advocates
Ryan Kliszat
Co-founder, Verticly
Saasha Celestial-One
Co-founder, OLIO
Sam Mathews
CEO, NEVERBLAND
Sam Michel
Founder, Chinwag
Sam Oakley
CEO, StashMetrics
Sandy Forster
Co-founder, Pinipa
Sanford Dickert
CEO, OWLR
Sarah Cochrane
COO, Vetcloud
Sarah Wood
Co-founder, Unruly
Saul Klein
Founding Partner, LocalGlobe
Sean Seton-Rogers
Partner, PROFounders Capital
Sherry Coutu
Investor and non-exec director
Simon Edwards
Co-founder, Shuttlecook
Simon Hill
Co-founder, Wazoku
Simon Murdoch
Managing Partner, Episode1
Spencer Hyman
Co-founder, Navigator Commerce
Stefan Glaenzer
Partner, Passion Capital
Taavet Hinrikus
Co-founder, TransferWise
Tak Lo
Director, TechStars
Tessa Cook
Co-founder, OLIO
Tim Jackson
General Partner, Lean Investments
Tim Spratt
Co-founder, Permutive
Tom Allason
Founder, Shutl (acquired by Ebay)
Tom Foster-Carter
Co-founder, Curve
Tom Jones
Partner, Charlotte Street Capital
Tom Watson
Co-founder, Hubble
Tony Powell
Co-founder, Sponsorlist
Tracy Dorée
Founding Partner, Spring Partners
Tristan Deplantes
Co-founder, Mooshoo Labs
Turi Munthe
Founder, Demotix
Tushar Agarwal
Co-founder, Hubble
Ultan Miller
Co-founder, Release
Varun Shoor
CEO, Kayako
Vincent Dignan
Founder, Magnific
Vivian Chan
Co-founder, Sparrho
Wil Benton
Co-founder, Chew
Will Hodson
Co-founder, The Big Deal
Will Wynne
Co-founder, ArenaFlowers.com and Smart Pension
William Reeve
Co-CEO, Hubbub.co.uk
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