BUSINESS will be at the heart of the debate for the next four months over whether Britain should remain in the European Union.

Politicians on both sides of the split have already been invoking the interests of business.

Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns is campaigning for the UK to leave the union. “Since Britain joined the common market, in every single year, the other countries have sold more goods and services to Britain than we have sold to them,” he said.

“It would remain in their interests if Britain exited the political union for Britain to retain a free trade relationship.

“That argument would be put strongly, for example by BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Volkswagen, Citroen, Fiat etc.”

He added: “Even though the EU has been expanding in population and expanding in terms of the numbers of countries, it has been declining as a percentage of world trade.

“So there are enormous opportunities for leaving to engage in free trade arrangements with other countries directly around the world.”

Bournemouth East MP and government minister Tobias Ellwood is campaigning for Britain to say in the EU, saying: “Leaving would make a difference to the nation as a whole as countries would place tariffs on all our products.

“Dorset has important connections with Europe in the aerospace industry and in the digital economy, particularly through Bournemouth University which is connected with some amazingly successful films.

“This would all be affected by us having to renegotiate every single deal across 27 other countries. That can't be in Britain's interest.”

Simon Boyd, contracts director at REIDsteel in Christchurch, is regional chair in the South West of Business For Britain, which is campaigning for a ‘leave vote’.

He said small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) were more likely to favour leaving.

“The CBI has come out and said business is for staying in but that’s not the reality,” he said.

“It’s the big business, multi-nationals. SMEs are embedded in the local economy. We’re a service to our local community and our very survival depends on our law makers and being able to do what needs to be done for the best of British business. We’ve come to the stage where we need to take control back.”

He said Britain should be free to negotiate trade agreements with developing markets.

Keith Reilly, MD of Poole manufacturer Alfatronix, said he had concerns about other aspects of the EU but: “The business argument I believe to be almost overwhelming in favour of staying in.”

He added: “When we produce a successful product, we can get it quickly and easily into all the places where it needs to be, whereas in the 1970s you made a product in the UK market and if you were lucky, you could flog 10 per cent of it to the French and Italians.

“I can’t imagine that our ability to trade within Europe would be enhanced by leaving. I

Ian Girling, chief executive of Dorset Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the chamber would not be taking sides in the debate but would be helping inform businesses ahead of the June 23 referendum.

“We’ll be providing a platform for business, to give them information to make up their minds,” he said.

“We’ll do things with the Stay campaign and we’ll do some work with the Leave campaign and we’ll also be undertaking polls with businesses to get their views.”