The UK's world-leading fintech sector is one of the main reasons why its tech companies are receiving unprecedented levels of investment

"Brexit is a dire threat to the UK tech industry”. Those were the words of pro-Remain group Tech for UK, which claimed that the prospect of leaving the EU’s customs union would tear apart the bedrock on which the tech industry operates.

An exodus, they said, was on the cards.

“Anecdotally, we know many of the innovative startups of the future are looking to other EU cities to relocate to, or simply bypassing the UK altogether,” they wrote in an open letter in November last year.

At the start of this year, British technology pioneer Dyson confirmed it was moving its legal headquarters to Singapore. Sony had similar plans for its European HQ.

But despite these losses, fears of a no-deal Brexit scenario crippling tech investment or stifling talent are yet to be fully realised. In fact, investment in the UK tech sector has hit record highs according to the annual State of European Tech report from Atomico.

The London-based venture fund, led by Skype co-founder Niklas Zennström, says that the UK's technology sector has attracted just over $11.1bn (£8.6bn) so far in 2019 – placing it well ahead of Germany on $5.4bn, France on $4.8bn and Sweden on $3.4bn. It is also more than double the $5.2bn UK companies raised in 2016.