Almost 3,000 directors from over 50 FTSE 100 companies have declared their support for the UK’s ‘remain in Europe’ campaign as the country goes to the polls.

In an open letter published in The Times, signatories including Marks & Spencer CEO Marc Bolland, Asda CEO Andy Clarke, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, Carphone Warehouse founder Sir Charles Dunstone said that the reasons for supporting the Remain campaign were “straightforward.

"Businesses and their employees benefit massively from being able to trade inside the world’s largest single market without barriers," the letter reads.

"As business people, we always look to the future — and a future inside the EU is where we see more opportunities for investment, growth and new jobs.

"We know that Britain leaving the EU would mean having to re-establish terms of trade from scratch with our home market of 500 million consumers. That wouldn’t just hurt exporters but the hundreds of thousands of small and medium firms who do business with them."