Britain should stay in the European Union to safeguard exports to the Continent, the boss of Hitachi’s train operations in the UK urged today.
Alistair Dormer said the company, which is building a depot in West London and an £82 million factory in the North East, had chosen Britain to be its “gateway” to the EU markets.
“Clearly, we would be concerned as a business if there were any trade barriers or any barriers to doing business in Europe,” he told the Standard. “That would be a key concern to us.”
Yesterday, an exclusive poll revealed that a slim majority of City professionals think Britain should stay in the European Union. Some 56 per cent supported continued membership while 44 per cent backed withdrawal.
However, Mr Dormer, chief executive of Hitachi Rail Europe, which last month struck a £1.2 billion deal for a fleet of trains for the East Coast Main Line and hopes to build trains for Crossrail and the High Speed 2 line to Birmingham, said exporters wanted Britain to have warm and stable relations with Europe.
“Europe is potentially our biggest market and we would not want anything to happen that would create any barriers or damage the relationship,” he said.
He backed calls for structural reforms to the EU, but urged: “My personal advice is we should stay in.”
