THE boss of Lush has said it will move production of goods for mainland Europe from Poole to Germany in the wake of the EU referendum.

Mark Constantine, who co-founded the cosmetics giant in Poole 21 years ago, said the referendum result had signalled to staff from overseas that they were “not wanted by people in Poole”.

He told the Daily Echo the Poole factories would continue to produce goods for the UK market but products for the European market would be made abroad. Staff who want to move will go too.

Mr Constantine said this should not mean a loss of jobs locally but would mean Poole would not benefit from the company’s rapid expansion globally.

“We have considerable growth. We can move the European production to Europe and still be as busy as we were last Christmas,” he said.

“It’s not a question of cutting local production, it’s a question that the growth is going there.”

Lush employs 1,400 people in Poole and says around a third do not have British citizenship. Mr Constantine said those staff spend around £4.6million locally on food, leisure and housing, including around £700,000 in council tax.

He said: “Now all those people have been told they’re not welcome and not wanted by people in Poole, because Poole voted against it.”

He said David Cameron’s decision to resign – along with the waning fortunes of Boris Johnson and Michael Gove – meant those responsible for withdrawal from the EU had “absconded”.

“It’s not about business, it’s about people. What are they going to do with while we have no government and no leadership?” he said.

Lush, which currently produces about half its global output in Poole, announced earlier this year that it was opening a factory in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Mr Constantine said his wife and co-founder Mo had wept at the result of the EU referendum.

“Mo said when she went to Germany last week it was awfully sad to see that’s where the centre of things would be in the future and not here. But we don’t know that yet. All we know is we’re moving our mainland European production over there, along with those people who wish to go,” he said.

He believes there will be sharp drop in the UK’s gross domestic product as a result of the vote, followed by “a slow climb out of that over the next three or four years”.