The UK technology sector has called for the government to prioritise access to the EU market in Brexit negotiations.
TechUK said it wanted to ensure the best possible access to the EU market, EU talent and the need for laws around cross-borders.
The trade association said the UK’s digitally intensive firms account for 16 per cent of gross value added (GVA), three million jobs and 24 per cent of all exports. It said leaving the EU will disrupt all this.
TechUK commissioned Frontier Economics to produce an independent report on the impact of the UK’s decision to leave the EU on its world-leading digital economy.
The report – entitled ‘The UK Digital Sectors after Brexit’ – makes it clear that the UK’s successful tech sector is highly integrated with European markets and dependent on legal and regulatory frameworks established at EU-level over many decades.
TechUK said: “It is difficult to predict exactly what will happen when the UK extracts itself from such a complex political, economic and legal system. There is no precedent and there is much that we don’t know.
“However, a disorderly Brexit would significantly increase the risk of demand- and/or supply-side shocks that would negatively affect consumers, businesses and the UK economy as a whole.
“It is vital therefore that the UK achieves a smooth exit from the EU.”
TechUK recently launched a set of high level principles designed to help build public confidence in the Internet of Things.