Retailers including Kingfisher chief executive Ian Cheshire and Next boss Lord Wolfson have welcomed David Cameron’s pledge to hold an in-out referendum on Europe.

The Prime Minister revealed in his speech at Davos yesterday (Wednesday) that he would let the British public vote on the nature of the UK’s relationship with Europe in 2017.

While some business leaders were concerned about the uncertainty a referendum would create, others, including Cheshire and Wolfson, backed the plan.

Cheshire, who leads Kingfisher - which operates a large DIY business in France as well as growing chains in Poland, Russia and Spain - supported the idea of a referendum that he hoped would “put this to bed”.

“It is a good step forward. The Prime Minister is trying to shape the agenda rather than things happening as a result of drift and by default,” he said. Cheshire received the insignia of the Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite, the French equivalent of an OBE, last year.

Wolfson, a Conservative peer, claimed worries of uncertainty were “nonsense”.

“The only thing that’s damaging to British business is the march of regulation, which weighs industry down,” he said.

Cheshire and Wolfson were two of the 55 business figures who signed a letter to the Times welcoming Cameron’s move as “a European policy that will be good for business and good for good jobs in Britain.”

Others to have signed the letter included retailers Dixons, Burberry, Ocado and Carpetright and Harvey Nichols.

The letter said: “We need a new relationship with the EU, backed by democratic mandate.”

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