THE BOSS of a high-profile Oxfordshire firm has warned a ‘hard’ Brexit would be “catastrophic”.

Antony David, chief executive of Begbroke-based Solid State Logic which makes digital mixing consoles for recording studios, spoke out after last week’s General Election.

He said business confidence has been damaged further by the result, which saw the Conservative party lose their majority and a hung Parliament.

Mr David said the outcome puts a question mark over Government plans to withdraw from the single market and customs’ union.

And he called on politicians to “pause” by suspending Article 50, the mechanism which will take Britain out of the European Union.

He said: “The old trope about business wanting consistency is absolutely true and that’s exactly what this election hasn’t brought.

“It’s bad news for the economy in general.”

In a further twist, Mr David said the number of graduates from EU countries applying for jobs at Solid State Logic has plummeted by 80 per cent, compared to a year ago.

He believes applicants are put off coming to work in the UK because EU nationals do not know if they will be allowed to stay in the country.

The fall in the value of the pound has also made it less profitable.

He explained: “We employ a number of EU citizens, mainly graduates.

“If there was more certainty about whether they will be allowed to stay, it would help to settle them.

“This issue is one of the biggest impacts on us as a business.”

He added: “We are dependent on graduates from high-calibre universities which specialise in our area.

“But with the pound being depressed, their earnings here aren’t as good as they used to be.”

Of Solid State Logic’s 135 employees in the UK, 15 are EU nationals.

The music technology firm recruits from all over Europe including Spain, Germany, France, Italy and Lithuania to fill engineering, R&D and product support roles.

Two EU nationals have already quit and Mr David believes Brexit was a “contributing factor”.

He added: “I think Brexit was an issue.

“It wasn’t the only issue but it was definitely a contributing factor.”

Solid State Logic, which also has offices in Los Angeles, Milan, New York, Paris and Tokyo, is owned by musician Peter Gabriel.

Mr David said: “The option to move some of our activities outside the UK is open to us.

“I am not saying for a minute that we are going to do that but we may have to make adjustments in a worst scenario.”

He added: “A hard Brexit is unimaginable.

“It would be catastrophic.”