UK entrepreneurs hoping to make their fortunes in Silicon Valley have been shocked by Foreign Office plans to sell the consul general's residence in San Francisco.

At present the residence, based in one of the city's most fashionable districts, is a magnet for British companies trying to gain a foothold in Silicon Valley and make vital contacts.

It is also a big draw for chief executives, who are invited to rub shoulders with heads of state, politicians, dignitaries and other executives.

But a proposal by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to move somewhere smaller has caused outrage and anger among the business community in San Francisco and Silicon Valley.

"Silicon Valley is all about image and reputation," explains Scotsman Bill Elder, the CEO of Genus, a semiconductor company in Silicon Valley.

"And the minute you see somebody downsizing, getting smaller and thinking provincial, it sends a signal.

"The house is a symbol of British stature and how seriously it wants to do business in this Valley," says Mr Elder.

This view is also echoed by the British America Chamber of Commerce, which works closely with the Consul General Mike Frost at bringing British and American companies together .

"The house tells you something about continuity of commitment," says the Chamber's American president John Biestman.

There has been criticism in past Foreign Office reports that the building harked back to a bygone era and invoked a Home Counties atmosphere that is perhaps wrong in the brave new world of high tech.