Unsurprisingly, Mr Sunak’s announcement sparked confusion among Bentley’s 4,000 employees.

The Bentley chief held a meeting with staff last week to “reassure them” and stress that the manufacturer was “pushing ahead” with its investment and shift to electric as planned.

“We’re not going to complain,” he said. “We’re not going to constantly moan about it. We’ve got around 4,000 people, a few billions of investment and a business to run. So if that’s the order of the day, we’ll crack on. Our plan doesn’t change.”

Bentley’s bet on going all-electric by 2030 consisted of training staff on the new ways of working and building an entirely new factory.

Mr Hallmark said: “We are investing more than probably at any time since the factory was built.”

The company’s first EV is expected to be built by 2025 and a new model will follow every 12 months until 2030.

While Bentley is pressing ahead regardless of the Prime Minister’s policy change, Mr Hallmark suggested the company could invest more in legacy petrol and diesel cars to extend the lifespan of these models.

“We wouldn’t have thought about that [before],” he said. “Per year we may adjust five or 10pc of investment.”

Given its wealthy clientele, Mr Hallmark hopes demand for luxury electric cars will be strong despite concerns over how much EVs cost and a lack of charging infrastructure.

He said: “There are a lot of people who like the idea of BEVs, but I think the dissent was around people who couldn’t see a way of living with them, either because they were too expensive or they wouldn’t know how to charge.

“This may sound selfish but our customers will probably have the ability to charge at home or work. They will also use them daily but not in the same way as a family car.”