Brexit: SCC chief warns EU exit will damage economy

The chief executive of IT giant SCC has warned that the economy will suffer if Britain votes to leave the EU later this month.

Speaking to Channel Pro, James Rigby, said he doesn’t understand why voters would take such a huge risk with the economy.

“I personally don’t understand why we would even think about taking the risk of leaving,” he said. “The EU has brought lots of good things to this country in terms of access to market, rights for different groups of people, different orientations and cultures. I just don’t see why we’d take the risk,” he said, adding that SCC was firmly in the ‘in-camp’.

“We are 150 percent in favour of remaining in,” he said.

On the idea of the UK’s ability to negotiate its own trade agreements with other countries, he said: “Even if I just look at our UK business, the effect of leaving on the UK economy could be quite damaging. I don’t really see what the upside is.”

Rigby said that uncertainty in the lead-up to the referendum on June 23 was already affecting purchasing decisions: “Even now it’s having an affect on business – on confidence and investment; certainly in the products and projects side of things.”

SCC has more than 5,000 employees across Europe and serves more than five million users. France is its largest country in Europe based revenue.

In February, 197 UK business and technology leaders signed a letter backing Britain to remain a member of the EU, including chief executive and founder of SCC parent company, Sir Peter Rigby.

Bookmakers are currently are favouring the ‘in’ argument, offering odds of 3-10 that UK will vote to remain in the EU.