Microsoft declares its position on Brexit in letter

Michel Van der Bel sends letters to customers, partners and staff

Microsoft has declared it believes the UK should remain in the EU in a letter sent by its UK boss Michel Van der Bel (pictured) this morning.

Partners, staff and customers received the note, which has been seen by CRN and is published in full below, which said that the "UK remaining in the EU supports important criteria for continued and future investment by Microsoft and others".

The UK will go to the polls on 23 June to decide if the UK should remain in, or leave, the EU.

So far, a handful of individuals, such as SCC boss Sir Peter Rigby, Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins and ANS chairman Scott Fletcher have spoken up on the issue, but Microsoft is among the first companies to publicly take a stance.

Full letter:

Ahead of the referendum in June, we've been asked by employees, customers and partners about Microsoft's view on the UK's membership of the European Union. As a business in an industry which will be affected by the decision, we have carefully examined our position.

First and foremost, we want to emphasise that we firmly believe this is a decision for individual voters to make, based on the issues that are most important to them. We appreciate and respect that there are a range of reasons that motivate people on both sides of the debate, but as a business that is very committed to this country, our view is that the UK should remain in the EU.

We have a long history here. It's where we opened our first international office in 1982 and we have been investing in the UK ever since. We have more than 5,000 highly qualified people working in fields including support, marketing, gaming, communications, cybersecurity and computer science research. We've built a global centre of excellence for the development of artificial intelligence and other computing disciplines. We've also worked in partnership with innovators, entrepreneurs and people with a passion for technology to help to create a thriving partner network of around 25,000 British businesses.

Historically, the UK being part of the EU has been one of several important criteria that make it one of the most attractive places in Europe for the range of investments we have made. At key moments in our international growth we have specifically chosen to invest in our capabilities here in the UK. Most recently, we announced that we would start offering cloud services this year from new UK-based datacentres. And as we've grown, so too have the UK technology businesses we work with.

For us, the UK's membership of a wider EU was also a key reason why we chose to invest in our first overseas R&D laboratory in Cambridge. Why? Because we knew that the world-leading scientists we wanted to attract would want and need to work directly alongside other great researchers from across the region. This flexibility of doing business attracts the best people, and the investment that follows them, to the UK.

Whatever the outcome of the referendum, we respect the decisions made by UK voters. Our commitment to our staff and business here remains firm, but we also believe the UK remaining in the EU supports important criteria for continued and future investment by Microsoft and others.

Yours sincerely,

Michel Van der Bel

UK CEO
Microsoft Ltd