Virgin founder Richard Branson has offered his support to the Remain camp just days before Britain votes on EU membership
Virgin group founder Richard Branson has launched a new campaign to urge voters to back the European Union in this week's referendum.
Branson will launch an online campaign this week, with full-page adverts appearing in newspapers on Tuesday to make the argument that Brexit would represent a backward step.
It will include a personal letter from the Virgin magnate, reflecting on the history of Europe as a continent of conflict, but also reflecting on the business case for a Remain vote
Read More: The definitive list of everyone who's ever expressed a view on Brexit
In letters and video messages appearing this week, Branson will say: “Although I’ve been living in the British Virgin Islands for some time now, I have never stopped caring passionately about the UK and its great people.
“I am one of the few business people who can remember how difficult it was before the EU was formed.
“Setting up a new business was a challenge, I couldn’t move my employees between Britain and Europe without visas, moving goods was hugely complex with [35 per cent] high taxes and the hassle of red tape and heavy handed bureaucracy. I’m saddened to think the UK would ever go back to that time.”
Branson's move comes after Sir James Dyson offered his support to the Leave campaign, raising his fears that EU membership is preventing employers from recruiting staff from other parts of the world.