EU digital single market exit would be a big mistake, says head of web firm

Theresa May’s decision to take the UK out of the EU’s Digital Single Market (DSM) has sent a shockwave through the country’s digital community.

The fear is that the technology sector will faces a prolonged period of commerial and trading uncertainty.

Lawrence Jones

The head of one the UK’s larger internet hosting firms UKFast believes leaving the DSM is unnecessary and creates uncertainty.

“Brexit has already caused a huge amount of uncertainty in the economy and we don’t need more uncertainty and the DSM is actually a really good system that aligns well with the way the UK does business,” says Lawrence Jones.

The DSM is currently adopting a package of measures to enable frictionless online trade in services, capital and goods between participating nations.

“So why not just leave this aligned?” asks Jones. “We must remain aligned with the EU on digital trading or risk losing out on a huge amount of trade across the continent, so we need clarity now on how we’re going to remain part of this marketplace.”

So there is unlikely to be no financial gain to be made from leaving the DSM.

Jones believes it can only cause disruption.

“It adds complexity, uncertainty and barriers to digital business. It could put the brakes on businesses looking to invest in the UK and planning to place digital assets here,” says Jones.