Burberry’s leadership has issued a staff memo warning of the “unnecessary economic consequences” of Brexit
Fashion giant Burberry became the latest firm to warn employees of the risks of Brexit, in a letter sent to staff yesterday.
Chief executive Christopher Bailey and chairman sir John Peace told staff that a Leave vote would trigger “unnecessary economic consequences”.
While the pair did not explicitly tell staff which way to vote this week, they said that the business would be “stronger and more prosperous” inside the EU.
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Bailey and Peace cited the importance of access to European markets both for import and export, the ability to recruit from across the continent and the more fundamental security of the UK inside of the EU.
“We face a period of ambiguity that could see companies and customers alike delaying significant decisions relating to investment, employment and travel. As a responsible business, we are of course scenario planning to prepare and protect ourselves in the event of a leave vote,” they said
“It is not for the company to suggest how people should vote, but we felt it was important to outline the reasons why we firmly believe that Britain and Burberry would be stronger and more prosperous remaining in the European Union.”
The letter follows a similar message from the leaders of Tata Steel UK, which was sent to staff last week, while record company Beggars Group has also written to employees this week.
“We believe a victory for Brexit would be economically, politically, socially and culturally disastrous – for all of us,” Beggars founder Martin Mills said.
“No-one thinks the EU is perfect. It’s undeniably flawed. But when your family is imperfect, you don’t abandon it – you stay with it, and seek to make it better. That’s what we need to do here.”