A survey of UK technology companies has found 51 per cent would favour a second referendum on Brexit.
In a survey by techUK, 63 per cent of the 276 respondents selected a second referendum as one of their top three preferences. The second strongest first preference (16 per cent) was to support calls for a delay to Article 50 in order to allow time for further negotiations. It had almost equal support to a second referendum (64 per cent) when all three top preferences were taken into account.
Only 11 per cent of respondents selected No Deal as their first preference, with less than one third (27 per cent) listing it in their top three preferences.
The survey also found that while most larger firms (250+ staff) have taken steps to prepare for a No Deal Brexit, many smaller tech business are unprepared for the UK leaving without a deal, with 65 per cent of smaller firms (<50 staff), and 46 per cent of mid-sized businesses (50-249 staff) who responded to the survey, saying they have taken no active steps to prepare for No Deal.
Commenting on the survey, techUK CEO, Julian David, said: “Our polling suggests that many of our small and mid-sized members in particular do not have the resources or information needed to effectively prepare for No Deal. They want a deal that works and a future relationship that retains a high level of alignment and access to the EU market on issues that matter to the sector, such as the free flow of data, regulation and the availability of talent. We believe a simple ‘Canada-style’ free trade agreement would not be an acceptable outcome for most of techUK’s members.”
