Mark Boleat, policy chairman at the City of London Corporation, has urged the UK’s FinTech industry to speak up and help influence the debate ahead of the Brexit referendum scheduled to take place on 23rd June.
Boleat will speak at Innovate Finance Global Summit, taking place on Monday in London, where he is expected to say: “Everything I hear from the tech industry supports Britain remaining in the EU. The industry needs to engage actively in the debate.
“Successful entrepreneurs in rapidly growing industries are among the voices that will be listened to. It is far better have ‘entrepreneurs for Europe’ than ‘bankers for Brussels’ as a tagline.”
Boleat has also said that the industry needs help tackling its problems in recruiting talent from across the globe and in particular, addressed the UK’s visa system:
“We must strengthen our access to skills and talent. We need to double our FinTech workforce by 2020, ensuring those entering the workplace by then are equipped with both the right skills, and the opportunities to develop those skills in this sector.
“We must also ensure that the global talent pool for FinTech remains open for UK businesses to draw upon, to help us in expanding our UK-based workforce. The current visa regime is capable of significant improvement in this respect,” he concluded.
The FinTech sector, which is believed to employ over 60,000 people in the UK, is estimated to be worth over £20bn and is credited with generating over £6.6 bn in revenue.