Speaking at a press event at the annual trade show at Birmingham’s NEC, White said: “As an exporter to Europe, I fear for a return to the days when exporting a piece of machinery outside of the UK was such a paperwork-intensive ridiculous operation that it could put the brakes on British industry."
“It would be fine for us selling within England or within the UK but for our exports we have to be realistic and understand that our biggest market is Europe,” he added.
However, White conceded that from a business point of view there are positives to Brexit. He said: “Perhaps the short-term pro would be the pound weakening. On balance, our biggest cost is labour and, if wages are going to remain on a level, that means a weaker pound benefits our market and our ability to sell.”
White said that the vote will come down to what makes the most sense economically and for business. “It’s very analogous to the Scottish referendum. While some people are making emotional decisions based on issues like immigration, the reality is it’s about what makes sound business sense. And the general consensus, I suppose, is probably to remain.”
Essex-based Blackman & White has been developing and selling cutting machines for both the UK and export markets since 1964. At Sign & Digital UK, the company launched new image-recognition software, which is now in use on Blackman & White's machines.
Also on show was new conveyor belt technology, allowing for fast and easy control for switching between laser and knife conveyor belts. It is available as part of Blackman & White's Versa-Tech range now and was shown for the first time at Fespa. It was being demonstrated on a 1.6m Versa-Tech cutting table. Blackman & White now has more than 100 installations of the Versa-Tech table, which is a versatile cutter with a multi-head feature.
The Versa-Tech can cut at 1,200mm/sec and a 1.6x3.2m machine costs around £78,000. It can handle a range of substrates, including self-adhesive vinyl, Foamex, Dibond, Foamcore, acrylic, textiles, PVC, sandwich board, card and paper. Blackman & White also supplies Orion, Genesis and MasterCut cutting machines.
The EU referendum will take place on 23 June. A poll commissioned by The Daily Telegraph and carried out by Opinion Research Business (ORB) published on 19 April found the Remain campaign pulling just ahead of the Leave campaign, with 52% of the vote. It puts Leave on 43% and 'Don’t know' on 5%.
White said: “I really hope that no matter what happens England can continue to develop its industrial and engineering manufacturing. In recession times you need an industrial buzz, which I think has for too long been drifting away from the UK."
