SOME of the biggest names in the City have lined up behind a Eurosceptic group that is backing the campaign to leave the European Union.
Business for Britain, which has signed up to the Vote Leave campaign, has a raft of grandees from banking and fund management among its 1,400 supporters — nearly three times the number it had at launch two years ago.
This growing support is at odds with the stance of trade bodies such as The City UK, which have claimed most of their members back Britain’s continued EU membership.
It comes as billionaire Peter Hargreaves, co-founder of the financial adviser Hargreaves Lansdown, has revealed he is trying to broker a deal between the two “out” campaigns — Vote Leave and Leave EU, run by Bristol entrepreneur Arron Banks.
Business for Britain has announced it had signed up to the Vote Leave campaign with the support of prominent figures such as John Caudwell, the mobile phones billionaire; Oliver Hemsley, chief executive of the stockbroker Numis, and Crispin Odey, founder of Odey Asset Management.
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The group claims to speak for the “silent” majority in business, such as stockbrokers, private bankers and wealth managers, including Michel de Carvalho, who chairs Citi Private Bank in Europe, the Middle East and Africa; Paul Killik, founder of the stockbroker Killik & Co; Gavin Rochussen, chief executive of JO Hambro Capital Management, and Mark Tyndall, co-founder of Artemis Investment Management.
Britain’s asset managers and investment-trust companies have been hit hard by EU regulation over the past five years, which may have prompted many to support the Eurosceptics.
Other City supporters of Business for Britain include Fred Carr, chairman of the M&G High Income Trust; Lucy Allan, former head of investment trusts at Gartmore Investment Management, owned by Henderson; and Alexander Darwall, head of European equities at Jupiter, the fund manager.
Business for Britain was launched to push for EU reform, but said it took the decision to join Vote Leave in the summer when it became clear that the bloc would not renegotiate its treaties. It informed supporters by letter and email, but said “only a handful” — including Charlie Mullins of Pimlico Plumbers — had left as a result. All the supporters contacted last week declined to comment.
Hargreaves, worth £1.89bn in The Sunday Times Rich List, said he had offered his support to both “out” campaigns, but hoped to see them work together before declaring his hand. Only one group will be selected as the official “out” campaign. “I am a great fan of both teams and I think they do a great job, but they would do a better job together,” he said.
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Lord Rose, the former M&S boss, was previously a supporter of Business for Britain but now heads the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign.
The CBI, the business lobby group, said the majority of its members still supported Britain’s membership of the EU.