THE boss of an Oxfordshire firm with world-beating technology says deciding how to vote on June 23 is tricky.

Chris Busby, managing director of ICEOxford, criticised politicians for failing to give business owners enough hard facts to make up their minds.

The Witney-based firm has developed equipment that can cool to ten-thousandths of a degree above absolute zero – the coldest temperature in the universe.

A third of sales are generated from Europe, with customers including the European Space Agency.

Mr Busby said: “My heart says ‘stay in’ but I have no justification for that, until I get concrete facts about what would happen to our orders if we came out of the EU. We just don’t know – would they dry up?”

He and his fellow directors have not tried to influence their 19 employees on how to vote.

He added: “There are so many opinions being put across, you don’t know who to believe.

“As soon as one comes out with the so-called facts, the other side says ‘that’s a load of rubbish’.

“As it stands, I will probably vote to stay in, because we want the orders to keep flowing and it’s the unknown of what would happen if we come out.”

Mr Busby is not alone – research by the Federation of Small Businesses found more than half of small business owners don’t feel they have enough information to vote in the upcoming referendum.

Chief economist for commercial banking for HSBC bank Mark Berrisford-Smith spoke at an Economic Question Time debate at Oxford’s Said Business School last week.

He told Oxfordshire business owners, lawyers, accountants and property experts: “If we vote to leave, the pound will be in freefall and so will the stock market.”

Uncertainty around what might follow a leave vote could cause most damage, he added.

And negotiating exit and trade agreements with our EU neighbours could take up to eight years.

Mr Berrisford-Smith explained: “It’s not a disaster or a recession but it’s a slowdown you would notice.

“It will last until we get certainty around the process, so it could be a rocky couple of years while we get it all sorted out.”

But if the UK votes to remain in, we should expect “a little post referendum bounce”, he added.

Ed Porter, a director of Oxford-based accountants Shaw Gibbs, said uncertainty is dangerous to business and economic growth in Oxfordshire and suggested investors were already worried about the outcome of the referendum.

He explained: “Oxford is an area that attracts overseas investment and many foreign firms and investors use it as a springboard to operate in the rest of Europe and the world.

“Whatever happens on June 23, there will be a period of uncertainty. It would surprise me if there wasn’t an element of caution among investors.”

Antony David, chief executive of Begbroke-based Solid State Logic, said an EU exit would prove a big headache for his firm.

A major exporter of high-tech digital mixing consoles and recording suite equipment, with the EU making up more than a quarter of sales, the company relies on freedom-of-movement rules to fill key jobs.

Mr David said: “We depend on people from the EU who have specific skills we need, because we cannot find them here.

“If I wanted to recruit from Japan or the US, I have lots of hoops to jump through, but we have access to millions of people and lots of skills because of free movement of people throughout Europe.”

Oxford-based firms who believe staying in the EU is better for business include BMW, which sent a letter to 5,000 employees at its Cowley Mini plant in March warning that without EU free trade agreements, its operating costs for imports and exports in the UK could rise.

Other high-profile pro-EU business leaders include Juergen Maier, UK chief executive of German-owned Siemens, which has its main MRI magnet technologies plant in Eynsham.

Being part of the European Union means Oxfordshire’s economy receives cash funding.

The county is allocated £16.5m of European Structural and Investment Funds for the period from 2014 to 2020. And during the past five years, Oxford University has been awarded millions of euros to boost science and technology research projects.

Former Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership chairman and chief executive of Oxfordshirebased engineering firm Ketonex, Dr Martin Dare-Edwards, said it was not just about cash, as collaboration is “the most valuable part of our membership of the EU”.

He told the Oxford Mail earlier this year: “The major boost for Oxfordshire’s tech and bio-science industry is the exchange of ideas and free movement of scientists between here and the rest of the EU.”

CASH DOWN THE DRAIN

CASH is going down the drain because of meddling EU officials, according to Kidlington-based businessman David Ilott.

Grandfather Mr Ilott runs IHS Systems, which specialises in waste water treatment and disposal.

He will be voting ‘leave’ on June 23, as he says EU officials interfere in the UK’s business regulations.

He is annoyed by what he sees as influence on our VAT rate and unhappy with immigration, which he says keeps wages low.

Hesaid: “The majority of immigrants take lower pay, because they are better off here than in their own countries.

“They earn money but send it all back to their families in their own countries, which does not benefit the UK and keeps wages low here. I want the country to prosper and we are not going to get anywhere unless we promote skills rather than getting loads of cheap labour.”

HOUSE PRICES COULD TAKE A TUMBLE

PROPERTY expert Michelle Niziol warned Oxfordshire’s housing market will be hit if there is a vote to leave on June 23.

But although house prices might fall in the short-term, she believes they would recover“fairly quickly”.

Bicester-based Ms Niziol pointed out: “The value of sterling could fall by as much as 20 per cent.

“That could benefit overseas investors into Oxford property but impact adversely on the savings and assets of homeowners here, as well as triggering a rise in interest rates and mortgages.”

She added:“I take the view that it is not only good forthe UK to remain as part of the EU project and help strengthen it but that it is good for Europe and the rest of the world.”

A group of 17 housebuilders and housing associations, including Barrett Homes, Berkeley and A2Dominion, say Brexitwill mean fewer homes being built.

The firms predicted house prices could dip by up to 17 per cent if there is a leave vote on June 23

BUILDING THE FUTURE

CUMNOR Hill-based Beard Construction has a £125m turnover and more than 200 employees, chief executive Mark Beard said “I am voting to remain in, with some reluctance, but the overriding factor for me is the economy.

“I believe there will be a short-term shock to the economy if we leave and some long-term damage, as far as Oxford is concerned.”

Heexplained: “Quite a lot of capital investment in Oxford is supported by the university, colleges and other institutions and capital investment in stocks and shares which are likely to take a hit if we leave the EU.

“With the uncertainty and loss of confidence, it will mean projects will be put on hold that would otherwise have gone ahead.”

Despite pledging to vote ‘in’, Mr Beard is uneasy that “partly unaccountable organisations have become a bit of a law unto themselves.”

But he added: “The economy card is the one that trumps it for me.”