Bosses Urged To Endorse Cameron's 'EU Deal'

Business leaders are being asked to sign an open letter endorsing a deal between David Cameron and European Union leaders even before he thrashes out an agreement which paves the way for a summer referendum.

Sky News has learnt that scores of company bosses have been approached in recent days about signing a statement backing the Prime Minister's efforts to reform Britain's relationship with the EU.

Mr Cameron is in Brussels on Thursday to negotiate with his 27 fellow EU leaders during what could be a pivotal 24 hours for the UK's future in Europe.

Arriving in the Belgian capital on Thursday, Mr Cameron said: "I will not take a deal that doesn't meet what we need."

Sources said the open letter from business leaders was being guided by Baroness Rock, a Conservative Party official who is understood to have taken a leave of absence from the party's headquarters this month to work on it.

It is slated to be published next Tuesday, according to one business leader, although the timing is subject to change if an agreement with the rest of the EU is delayed, and it may yet not materialise at all if Mr Cameron fails to win sufficient concessions.

A source said those involved in the letter backing an EU reform deal were hopeful that hundreds of businesspeople would sign it, enabling it to claim that it was representative of companies employing more than one million people.

Baroness Rock was closely involved with a letter supporting the Conservatives published during last year's General Election campaign.

Among those who signed the pre-election letter were the property tycoon Nick Leslau, Lord Rose, the former Marks and Spencer chairman who now heads Britain Stronger in Europe, the group campaigning for Britain to remain in the EU, and Paul Walsh, the former boss of Diageo (LSE: DGE.L - news) ,

Other signatories included explicit eurosceptics such as Luke Johnson, the entrepreneur who chairs Patisserie Valerie and built Pizza Express into one of Britain

It was unclear on Thursday which business leaders had agreed to sign the new letter backing an agreement on EU reform.

However, Baroness Rock's involvement risks angering eurosceptic Tories, one of whom told Sky News that he was "uncomfortable" that party resources were being deployed in favour of the 'In' campaign.

Baroness Rock did not respond to a request for comment, while her Conservative Party email account issued an automated response saying she was "on leave from CCHQ until the end of February and do not have access to this email or telephone messages".

In a statement, a Conservative spokesman said: "CCHQ has always said it will permit its staff to work for either side by taking unpaid leave of absence."