Ron Black was so concerned at the prospect of the head office of Imagination Technologies moving to China that he alerted British intelligence officers

A technology boss sacked for highlighting risks to national security posed by China’s move to take over a British company has been awarded 1.5 million in compensation.

Ron Black told a tribunal that he became so concerned by the prospect of the head office of Imagination Technologies, of which he was chief executive, moving to China that he alerted British intelligence officers.

The 62-year-old American, who was earning a 400,000 annual salary, had warned that Chinese control of the company could be “dangerous” and that technology could end up being used for military or espionage purposes. After threatening to resign over his “grave concerns”, Black and his wife — who was also a senior executive at the company — were fired, allegedly at the behest of two senior figures in China.

Black sued Imagination and has been awarded 1.5 million in damages for unfair dismissal.

The hearing in Watford was told the company, which is based in Hertfordshire, made microchips for vehicles, mobile phones, gaming and military weapons. In 2017 Canyon Bridge, a private equity fund ultimately owned by the Chinese government, paid 550 million for Imagination Technologies.

However, two years later, the company lost Apple as a client and endured a “disappointing period” before it recruited Black, a technology veteran who was billed as a “turnaround...

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