Apple boss says UK must keep door open to migrants or risk losing thriving technology industry

Chief designer, Sir Jonathan Ive, said the UK has a 'fabulous tradition of design education' but is behind Silicon Valley as a technology hub

Sir Jonathan has been responsible for the design of the iPhone, iPod and iMac in more than 20 years at Apple (Reuters)

The UK must continue to welcome immigrants from around the world if it wants to keep its thriving technology industry, one of Apple’s top bosses has said.

Sir Jonathan Ive, who is chief designer at the California-based company, told BBC Radio’s Today Programme that access to top talent “is terribly important for creating a context for multiple companies to grow and in a healthy way explore and develop new products and new product types".

Sir Jonathan said the UK has a “fabulous tradition of design education” but is behind Silicon Valley as a technology hub.

He celebrated the "tremendous cultural diversity" of Silicon Valley, which is home to tech giants such as Google and Facebook. The area has, "infrastructures to support start-up companies ... ranging from technological support through to funding", he said.

"And there is the sense that failure isn't irreversible, so very often people will work on an idea, and there isn't the same sense of stigma when one idea and perhaps one company doesn't work out."

The designer, who was recently appointed chancellor of the Royal College of Art, led Apple’s design team through its renaissance in the 1990s. He is responsible for Apple's signature style which so many other companies have since tried to imitate.

In January, Silicon Valley giants including Google, Facebook, Apple and Uber condemned Donald Trump’s executive orders which stopped people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US.

Sir Jonathan’s comments come as new figures show that net migration fell sharply last year in the wake of June’s Brexit vote.

The Office for National Statistics estimated long-term net migration to be 248,000 in 2016, down a "statistically significant" 84,000 from 2015.

Business groups warned that a sharp fall in net migration, driven by a dramatic increase in EU nationals fleeing the UK, meant employers risk "losing key members of staff in positions that cannot easily be replaced".