Vodafone has warned that it could move its headquarters out of the UK if Britain’s negotiations to leave the European Union resulted in a curb on free movement.

The telecoms giant said it would “continue to evaluate the situation and will take whatever decisions are appropriate in the interests of our customers, shareholders and employees” while negotiations are ongoing.

It added that while it was too early to “draw any firm conclusions regarding the long-term location for the headquarters”, it had benefited from EU business policies. It has its headquarters in London and further offices in Newbury.

Vodafone said that the free movement of people, capital and goods which are part of EU membership had helped drive its growth. “It remains unclear at this point how many of those positive attributes will remain in place once the process of the UK’s exit from the EU has been completed,” it said.

The UK generated just 11pc of group profits in the last financial year, compared to 55pc from its European operations. “The very large majority of our 462 million customers, 108,000 employees and 15,000 suppliers are based outside the UK,” it said.

Vodafone said the single legal framework spanning all member states, retaining freedom of movement were "integral to the operation of any pan-European business".