May and several of her top ministers met bosses from 19 Japanese businesses, including Nissan, SoftBank and bank Nomura bon Thursday.

"There was... agreement on the importance of moving quickly in the negotiations to secure a trading relationship with the EU that is as tariff-free and frictionless as possible following the implementation period," a spokesman at May's Downing Street office said on Thursday.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)