The Fuelling Fintech report from TheCityUK, which promotes Britain as a financial centre, and recruitment firm Odgers Berndtson, said fintech and other financial services firms must work harder to secure the skills they need.

The British fintech sector employs 60,000 people and is worth £7bn to the UK economy, according to the report. Out of this, up to 20% of the skills needed in recent years have come from people in EU countries.

Since the initial Brexit vote, there has been a “significant decrease of graduates coming to the UK from France and Germany in particular,” the financial and professional services body said.

Up to a fifth of the skills needed in recent years has come from EU countries, and UK hirers are now seeing a net migration of tech graduates back to the bloc.

Companies struggle to fill roles in coding, cloud computing, machine learning, software development, cyber, artificial intelligence and blockchain, the report said.

The report recommends copying pharmaceuticals and manufacturing by forging long-term partnerships with academia to create a pipeline of skilled people – and also looking beyond graduates.

In order to offer their services without any post-Brexit disruption, financial firms have been leasing offices throughout continental Europe, moving hundreds of staff out of London and have transferred billions of assets out of the UK.

Thousands of workers and billions of pounds are now heading to Dublin to avoid the worst effects of Brexit.  Over 100 financial companies are now in the process of moving their staff and operations to Dublin in order to be able to continue their businesses unhampered by the effects of Brexit.

The prime minister Theresa May is likely to have to go to Thursday’s Brussels summit to request a long extension to article 50, which could mean the UK has to spend more than £100m on participating in European parliamentary elections.

Source : internationalinvestment.net