EU Referendum

1/3 FTSe boys want to stay so it looks like 2/3 would like out.

That's a slight misrepresentation! 1/3 have come out in favour of staying, doesn't necessarily mean the remainder have the opposing view. In fact, to date, 0 have come out in favour of leaving.
 
They were all asked to take part so it's a reasonable assumption.

I don't think it is a reasonable assumption that any companies that didn't sign the letter are in favour of leaving.

For example, Tescos and Sainsburys have elected to stay neutral on the matter.
 
That's a slight misrepresentation! 1/3 have come out in favour of staying, doesn't necessarily mean the remainder have the opposing view. In fact, to date, 0 have come out in favour of leaving.

Interesting point raised earlier on the radio that included in those wanting us to remain in the EU are Vodafone (who are French owned) and Heathrow (Spanish owned). Would be interesting to look at the nationalities of the major shareholders of the other companies that have come out in favour of us staying in.
 
Interesting point raised earlier on the radio that included in those wanting us to remain in the EU are Vodafone (who are French owned) and Heathrow (Spanish owned). Would be interesting to look at the nationalities of the major shareholders of the other companies that have come out in favour of us staying in.

Some of the companies seemed to employ less that 20 people
 
Interesting point raised earlier on the radio that included in those wanting us to remain in the EU are Vodafone (who are French owned) and Heathrow (Spanish owned). Would be interesting to look at the nationalities of the major shareholders of the other companies that have come out in favour of us staying in.

Last time I looked Vodaphone were a British company. Plus the major shareholders of these massive companies are mostly pension schemes/investment funds and not especially located in any specific country. Here's the major shareholders of Ferrovial, the company that owns Heathrow.

[TABLE="class: wikitable"]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center"]Owner[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center"]Shares[SUP][17][/SUP][/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ferrovial[/TD]
[TD]25%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Qatar Holding[/TD]
[TD]20%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec[/TD]
[TD]12.62%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Government of Singapore Investment Corporation[/TD]
[TD]11.20%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Alinda Capital Partners[/TD]
[TD]11.18%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]China Investment Corporation[/TD]
[TD]10%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Universities Superannuation Scheme[/TD]
[TD]10%[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

I'd argue the reason they want us to stay in is that is makes it easier for them to do business and ultimately make more profit for the shareholders. Simple as that.
 
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You football fans will of course be aware that, if the leavers get their way, those expensive foreign European footballers will have to apply for a work permit to play in England.
Why would a Supermarket support the IN vote and alienate 35% of their customers.....
 
You football fans will of course be aware that, if the leavers get their way, those expensive foreign European footballers will have to apply for a work permit to play in England.
Why would a Supermarket support the IN vote and alienate 35% of their customers.....

And ? There are already plenty of players that have to apply for work permits as it is.

In fact it might also force clubs to look at home players first - so even more reason to vote out
 
And ? There are already plenty of players that have to apply for work permits as it is.

In fact it might also force clubs to look at home players first - so even more reason to vote out

How many home grown players currently in most PL squads. We'd never be competitive in Europe again. Not a sound decision on it's own for in/out but an interesting angle
 
Last time I looked Vodaphone were a British company. Plus the major shareholders of these massive companies are mostly pension schemes/investment funds and not especially located in any specific country. Here's the major shareholders of Ferrovial, the company that owns Heathrow.

I'd argue the reason they want us to stay in is that is makes it easier for them to do business and ultimately make more profit for the shareholders. Simple as that.

So these massive companies want to remain in the EU for selfish fiscal reasons, not for what's best for the country. No big surprise. How about if these same companies had to pay a huge membership fee to remain in the club, just like the UK tax payer (£10 billion net or so). They surely would'nt be so keen then.
 
Last time I looked Vodaphone were a British company. Plus the major shareholders of these massive companies are mostly pension schemes/investment funds and not especially located in any specific country. Here's the major shareholders of Ferrovial, the company that owns Heathrow.

[TABLE="class: wikitable"]
[TR]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center"]Owner[/TH]
[TH="bgcolor: #F2F2F2, align: center"]Shares[SUP][17][/SUP][/TH]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ferrovial[/TD]
[TD]25%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Qatar Holding[/TD]
[TD]20%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec[/TD]
[TD]12.62%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Government of Singapore Investment Corporation[/TD]
[TD]11.20%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Alinda Capital Partners[/TD]
[TD]11.18%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]China Investment Corporation[/TD]
[TD]10%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Universities Superannuation Scheme[/TD]
[TD]10%[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

I'd argue the reason they want us to stay in is that is makes it easier for them to do business and ultimately make more profit for the shareholders. Simple as that.

So the largest shareholder of Heathrow Airport is Spanish then?

How about a few of the others that have signed the letter........

BT – largest shareholder (12% T Mobile – German)
Vodafone - Vittorio Colao, Gerard Kleisterlee, Paolo Bertoluzzo top 3 in company)
O2 – owned by Telefonica (Spanish)
Gatwick – Global Infrastructure Partners – New York
Easyjet – Stelios - Greece
Shell - Dutch
Credit Suisse - Swiss
HSBC – Hing Kong
Airbus – European (French)
AstraZeneca – British/Swedish
Air Asia - Malaysian
BHP Billiton – British/Australian
BMW - German
Cisco - American
Ford (European president)
Goldman Sachs - American
Jaguar Land Rover - Indian
Ocado - American
Petrofac - American
Qinetic - American
Rolls Royce – VW German
Ryanair - Irish
Santander - Spanish
Siemens Manufacturing - German
TalkTalk – Goldman Sachs American
Travelex – Apax Partners UAE
Unilever - Dutch

And that's after just a quick google. It's hardly a list of the great and the good of British businesses.
 
So these massive companies want to remain in the EU for selfish fiscal reasons, not for what's best for the country. No big surprise. How about if these same companies had to pay a huge membership fee to remain in the club, just like the UK tax payer (£10 billion net or so). They surely would'nt be so keen then.

Probably yes. But like it or not our economy relies a lot on the inward investment and employment provided by these global companies. I'm not a huge fan of the way they try and avoid taxes and a lot of other things they get up to. But we need them just as much as they need us and we should be doing all we can to keep the UK an attractive long term investment area for them.
 
Probably yes. But like it or not our economy relies a lot on the inward investment and employment provided by these global companies. I'm not a huge fan of the way they try and avoid taxes and a lot of other things they get up to. But we need them just as much as they need us and we should be doing all we can to keep the UK an attractive long term investment area for them.

Absolutely, but there's no reason the UK will not remain (and possibly be enhanced) as an attractive investment area, without the massive drag factor of propping up (along with Germany and France) all of the financially weaker eu nations.
 
So the largest shareholder of Heathrow Airport is Spanish then?

How about a few of the others that have signed the letter........

BT – largest shareholder (12% T Mobile – German)
Vodafone - Vittorio Colao, Gerard Kleisterlee, Paolo Bertoluzzo top 3 in company)
O2 – owned by Telefonica (Spanish)
Gatwick – Global Infrastructure Partners – New York
Easyjet – Stelios - Greece
Shell - Dutch
Credit Suisse - Swiss
HSBC – Hing Kong
Airbus – European (French)
AstraZeneca – British/Swedish
Air Asia - Malaysian
BHP Billiton – British/Australian
BMW - German
Cisco - American
Ford (European president)
Goldman Sachs - American
Jaguar Land Rover - Indian
Ocado - American
Petrofac - American
Qinetic - American
Rolls Royce – VW German
Ryanair - Irish
Santander - Spanish
Siemens Manufacturing - German
TalkTalk – Goldman Sachs American
Travelex – Apax Partners UAE
Unilever - Dutch

And that's after just a quick google. It's hardly a list of the great and the good of British businesses.

Not 100% sure what your point is? Large companies on the stock exchange nowadays are global, they are owned by many different institutions in many different countries. I work for a Finnish company that provides employment for over 100 people in this country. Is the point it should only be British companies owned by British people who can possibly comment on this?

What is the point of pointing out that 3 of the top managers in Vodafone are not British? It is a massively successful British service company employing 1000s of people in the UK. As do the others, they employ British workers and pay taxes (well most do) here as well. Who actually owns them or what nationality the chief exec is is not really here nor there in todays globalised economy

Also you are getting confused between Rolls Royce the small BMW owned car manufacturer and Rolls Royce the very British Derby based global player in power systems and engines. 2 very separate companies.
 
I think the list bursts the flimsy argument, rather than supports it.
A bit like saying RBS is a Scottish bank.
We live in a global market now, nationality means very little in business. Where the jobs are is what matters eg Nissan.
 
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