Freight industry chiefs are among of the business leaders signing a letter backing continued UK membership of the European Union. The letter has been signed by Ian Baxter, chairman of Baxter Freight; Christian Salbaing, deputy chairman of Hutchison Whampoa which owns the Port of Felixstowe; and Adam Shuter, managing director of Exact Logistics.
Other signatories, to the letter which appears in “The Times” on 23rd February, come from major corporations across both manufacturing and retail. They include, Andy Clarke, chief executive, Asda; Pascal Soriot, CEO, AstraZeneca; Sir Adrian Montague CBE, chairman, Aviva; Bob Dudley, CEO, BP plc; Ivan Menezes, CEO, Diageo; Stewart Wingate, CEO, Gatwick Airport Ltd; and Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever.
In the letter, they said: “The businesses we lead represent every sector and region of the United Kingdom. Together we employ more than one million people across the country.
“Following the Prime Minister’s renegotiation, we believe that Britain is better off staying in a reformed European Union.”
Ian Baxter sold his previous company, RH Freight to Kuehne+Nagel in March 2011, and launched Baxter Freight in October 2013 with the ambition of building it into a £100m turnover business in three years. His brother Andrew Baxter, who was also a director of RH Freight, is now the owner of Europa Worldwide.
In a separate move, motor manufacturer Nissan has made it clear that it believes that the UK should stay with the European Union. The company employs 8,000 people directly, and a further 32,000 indirectly through dealerships and its supply chain.
In a statement on the EU referendum which is due to take place on Thursday 23rd June, Nissan chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn said: “We are a global business with a strong presence in Europe. We have a rich heritage in the UK with 30 years of manufacturing and engineering presence, and remain committed to building and engineering cars in the country. Last year we produced more than 475,000 vehicles in the UK – 80 per cent of which are exported.
“Our preference as a business is, of course, that the UK stays within Europe – it makes the most sense for jobs, trade and costs. For us, a position of stability is more positive than a collection of unknowns. However, this is ultimately a matter for the British people to decide.”
This is the full list of signatories to the letter:
Nicholas Judd, Founder & Head of Investment, 90 North Real Estate Partners LLP
Matt McLaren, Executive Director, Access Ambition Consultancy Services Ltd
Tony Fernandes, GCEO, AirAsia and Founder, Tune Group
Paul Kahn, President, Airbus Group UK
Jacqueline Gold CBE, CEO, Ann Summers
Andy Clarke, Chief Executive, Asda
Pascal Soriot, CEO, AstraZeneca
Sir Adrian Montague CBE, Chairman, Aviva
Paul Evans, Group CEO, AXA UK & Ireland
Peter Rogers, CEO, Babcock International
Sir Roger Carr, Chairman, BAE Systems
Saghir Munir, Partner/Director, Baker & Coleman Solicitors Ltd
Richard John Carter, Managing Director, BASF plc
Ian Baxter, Chairman, Baxter Freight Limited
Una Driscoll, Managing Director, Belt up Kidz Ltd
Helen Gibbons, Director, Bizlang Limited
Dr Ian Robertson, Board Member, BMW AG
Helena Boas, Co-Founder, Bodas
Bob Dudley, CEO, BP plc
Chris Grigg, CEO, British Land
Sir Alan Parker, Chairman, Brunswick Group
Gavin Patterson, CEO, BT Group plc
Sir Mike Rake, Chairman, BT Group plc
Christopher Bailey MBE, CEO, Burberry Group plc
Sir John Peace, Chairman, Burberry Group plc and Standard Chartered
George Iacobescu CBE, Chairman and CEO, Canary Wharf Group
Philip Green, Chairman, Carillion
Alex Mitchell, Director, Causarma Limited
Iain C. Conn, CEO, Centrica
Sarah Golding, CEO and Partner, CHI & Partners
Christopher Satterthwaite, Chief Executive, Chime Communications Group
Laurent Lacassagne, Chairman and CEO, Chivas Brothers
Phil Smith, Chief Executive UK and Ireland, Cisco
Sonny Leong, Chief Executive Officer, Civil Service College Ltd
Stephen Clarke, Partner/Director, CJCH Ltd
Ian Breminer, Managing Director, Complete Coffee Ltd
Professor Geeta Nargund, Founder and CEO, CREATE Health Limited
Tidjane Thiam, CEO, Credit Suisse
Cathy Owens, Director, Deryn Consulting Limited
Ivan Menezes, CEO, Diageo
Peter Callahan, Director, Diamond Dispersions Ltd
Seb James, CEO, Dixons Carphone
Martha Lane Fox CBE, Founder, Doteveryone and co-founder, Lucky Voice and Lastminute.com
Tim Gentles, Chief Executive Officer, Drill Board Worldwide Limited
Dame Carolyn McCall, CEO, EasyJet
Lindsley Ruth, CEO, Electrocomponents plc
Liz Weatherill, Managing Director, Enable2 C.I.C
Amjad Bseisu, Chief Executive, EnQuest plc
Damien Croft, Director, Esplora Limited
Charlie Shaw, Managing Director, Esteiro Business Solutions Limited
Adam Shuter, Managing Director, Exact Logistics Limited
Roland Rudd, Chairman, Finsbury
James Farley, Executive Vice President and President, Europe, Ford
Nacho Morais, Director, Frank Consulting Ltd
Michael Keegan, Executive Director EMEIA Region, Fujitsu
Stewart Wingate, CEO, Gatwick Airport Ltd
Mark Elborne, UK CEO, General Electric
Nigel Stein, Chief Executive, GKN
Hazel Pegg, Director, Glastonbury Online Ltd
Richard Gnodde, Co-CEO, Goldman Sachs International
Michael Sherwood, Co-CEO, Goldman Sachs International
Tom Gosnell, Managing Director, Gosnells Beverages Ltd
Juliette Polge de Combret, Director, Green Rendez-Vous Ltd
Rooney Anand, CEO, Greene King
Sir Andrew Witty, CEO, GSK
Jenny Halpern Prince, CEO, Halpern
David Atkins, Chief Executive, Hammerson plc
John Holland-Kaye, CEO, Heathrow
Allen Hogan, Managing Director, Hogan’s Cider Ltd
Ashley Govier, Managing Director, Hotel Services Group Ltd
Stuart Gulliver, CEO, HSBC
Douglas Flint CBE, Chairman, HSBC
Mark Hutchinson, Managing Director, Hutchinson Aerotech
Christian Salbaing, Deputy Chairman, Hutchison Whampoa
Julian Smith, Director, I Am Enterprises Ltd
David Stokes, CEO, IBM
Dan Hydes, Managing Director, Ignite Data Ltd
Ralf Speth KBE, CEO, Jaguar Land Rover
Mahmood Faiz, Director, James William Estate Agents
Jane Field, Owner/Founder, Jonny’s Sister
Katharine Pooley, Chief Executive and Owner, Katharine Pooley Interior Design
Kelly Hoppen MBE, Director, Kelly Hoppen Interiors
Martin Dare-Edwards, Chief Executive Officer, Ketonex Ltd
Veronique Laury, CEO, Kingfisher plc
Neil Clifford, Chief Executive, Kurt Geiger
Ian Walker, Director, LaundryRepublic Ltd
Sir Julian Horn-Smith, Advisory Board Member, LetterOne Technology
John Nelson, Chairman, Lloyd’s of London
Christopher Parker, Managing Director, London and Scottish International Ltd
Xavier Rolet KBE, CEO, London Stock Exchange
Debbie Wosskow, Chief Executive Officer, Love Home Swap Ltd
Tim Allen, Managing Director, M J Allen Group Ltd
Jess Burley, Global CEO, M/Six
Mark Reynolds, Chief Executive, Mace Group
Charlie Cornish, Chief Executive, Manchester Airports Group
Martin Lamb, Director, Maple Consulting Ltd
Christopher Peer, Managing Director, Maritime House Limited
Rick Haythornthwaite, Chairman, Mastercard
Ron Dennis CBE, Chairman and CEO, McLaren Technology Group
Clare Hornby, Founder and Creative Director, ME+EM
Sir Nigel Rudd, Chairman, Meggitt
Doug Dooley, Managing Director, MICC & TRM Ltd
Byron Dixon, Chief Executive Officer, Micro-Fresh International
Kanya King MBE, CEO and Founder, MOBO Organisations Ltd
Rana Harvey, Managing Director, Monster Group (UK) Ltd
Fraser Smeaton, Chief Executive, Morphsuits
Alan Parker CBE, Chairman, Mothercare
Dean Finch, CEO, National Express Group
Mary Nelson, Director, Nelson Browne Management Ltd
Sam Laidlaw, Chairman, Neptune Oil and Gas
Miisa Mink, Chairperson, Nordic Bakery Limited
Andrew Mitchell, Chief Executive, North East Finance Ltd
Geeta Sidhu-Robb, CEO and Founder, Nosh Detox
Tim Steiner, CEO, Ocado Group
Stuart Rose, Chairman, Ocado Group
Christina Richardson, CMO, Openr
Charlie Thuillier, Managing Director, Oppo Brothers Limited
Pia Marocco, Managing Director, Osborne & Partners
Luke Brynley-Jones, Managing Director, Our Social Times Ltd
Paul Simpson, Director, Paul Simpson Ltd
John Fallon, CEO, Pearson
Ayman Asfari, CEO, Petrofac
Graham Spencer, Executive Director, Plants for Europe Ltd
Scott Rowland, Chief Executive Officer, Precept (UK) Ltd
Mike Wells, Group Chief Executive, Prudential plc
Steve Wadey, CEO, QinetiQ
Mary Quicke, Managing Director, Quickes Traditional Ltd
Raman Sehgal, Director, Ramarketing & PR Ltd
Sir Peter Rigby, CEO & Chairman, Rigby Group PLC
Jan du Plessis, Chairman, Rio Tinto Group
Warren East CBE, CEO, Rolls Royce
Ben Van Beurden, CEO, Royal Dutch Shell
Stephen Hester, CEO, RSA Insurance
Michael O’Leary, Chief Executive, Ryanair
Alan Clark, CEO, SABMiller
Alison Edgar, Managing Director, Sales Coaching Solutions Ltd
Nathan Bostock, CEO, Santander UK
Shriti Vadera, Chair, Santander UK
Caroline Cole, Director, Savoir Faire Accounting Ltd
Tori Chilcott, Co-Founder, Scoota
Rupert Soames OBE, CEO, SERCO
Juergen Maier, UK CEO, Siemens
Mark Lyndon, Director, Signature Marketing Limited
Simon Barrow, Director, Simon Barrow Associates
Melanie Goldsmith, Director, Smith & Sinclair Ltd
Jonathan Grubin, CEO, SoPost Ltd
Doug Squires, Director, Squires Gear and Engineering Limited
Bill Winters, CEO, Standard Chartered
Ian Barnett, Director, Surfanic International Ltd
Dr Heather McGregor CBE, CEO, Taylor Bennett
Ronan Dunne, Chief Executive, Telefonica O2 UK
Sara Bell, CEO, Tempus Energy
Billy Walker, Managing Director, The Benriach Distillery Company Ltd
Daniel Williams, Managing Director, The Bottle Shop (Penarth) Ltd
Jay Risbridger, Director, The Green Stationery Company Ltd
Sally Greene OBE, Chief Executive, The Old Vic
Margo Marrone, Co-Founder, The Organic Pharmacy
Rory Curnock Cook, Director, The Profs Tuition Ltd
Lady Ruth Rogers MBE, Owner, The River Café
Niamh Barker, Managing Director, The Travelwrap Company Ltd
John Harries, Proprietor, Three Horseshoes Inn
Stephen Weil, Managing Director, TI Partners
Bernardo Ivo Cruz, Global Managing Partner, True Bridge Consultancy
Peter Long, Supervisory Board Member & former Chief Executive, TUI Travel
Olivier Dochez, Chief Executive Officer, Two Guys From Brussels
Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever
Lucian Grainge CBE, Chairman and CEO, Universal Music Group
David Joseph CBE, Chairman and CEO, Universal Music UK
Kate Unsworth, Founder and CEO, Vinaya
Peter Berry, Managing Partner, VIP Labels
Tom Mockridge, Chief Executive, Virgin Media
Jayne-Anne Gadhia, CEO, Virgin Money
Ian Taylor, CEO and President, Vitol
Vittorio Colao, CEO, Vodafone
Sir Peter Kendall, Director, W J Kendall Contracting Limited
Kasim Ali, Director, Waterloo Tea Limited
Keith Cochrane, Chief Executive, Weir Group
Sir Terence Matthews, Chairman, Wesley Clover
Karren Brady, Vice-Chairman, West Ham FC
Dr Uwe Kruger, Chief Executive, WS Atkins
Rich Clothier, Managing Director, Wyke Farms
These individuals have stated they are signing in a personal capacity:
Greg Hodkinson, Chairman, Arup
Andrew Mackenzie, CEO, BHP Billiton
Paul Walsh, CEO, Compass Group
Kathryn Parsons, Co-Founder and CEO, Decoded
Rupert Pearce, CEO, Inmarsat
Richard Reed, Co-Founder, Innocent Drinks and Jam Jar Investments
Patrick O’Sullivan, Chairman of ERS Ltd, Lloyds of London
Marc Bolland, CEO, Marks and Spencer
Karen Blackett OBE, Chairwoman, MediaCom
Steve Holliday, CEO, National Grid
Gail Rebuck DBE, Chairman, Random House UK
Graham Chipchase, Chief Executive, Rexam
Dido Harding, Chief Executive, TalkTalk
Lloyd Dorfman, President, Travelex
Rakesh Sharma, Chief Executive, Ultra Electronics Holding
Stefano Pessina, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO, Walgreens Boots Alliance
Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO, WPP
