Business leaders claim UK immigration gives them competitive edge

March 16 2010 by Liam Clifford

A new survey of business leaders, carried out by the London Chamber of Commerce, has discovered that the influx of UK visa holders was vital to the success of their companies.

The survey comes at a time when UK immigration is a hot topic in the run-up to the general election. Some 182 top business people responded to the survey, two-thirds of whom acknowledged that UK immigration had a positive effect on London’s economy. This rose to 72 per cent among the business leaders employing more than 200 people.

Some 81 per cent of the respondents from the professional industries agreed that UK immigration was beneficial, followed by 68 per cent in finance and business services.
Overall, seven out of ten respondents said that London would be less competitive without UK work visa holders, which is strong evidence to suggest that the UK should not close its doors to skilled people from abroad who want to work in the UK.

When asked about issues such as pressure on public services from immigration, more than half the business leaders claimed that the benefits of immigration outweighed the costs.

Over 40 per cent of the London companies questioned said UK work visa holders made up over 10 per cent of their staff, rising to 67 per cent among larger firms.

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