I'm an undergraduate student in electronics/software engineering and I recently got a (visible) tattoo on my forearm (about 8cm/3in) long. Now I understand this could be a problem, say, working in the retail sector where a company wants to present a professional image - but is it really a problem when interviewing for programming jobs?

What I mean to say is, in most companies I have interned at, they seem to have fairly relaxed rules within the engineering teams, but the first steps of interviewing are often with HR. So what I wanted to know is whether I should be covering up the tattoo, or disclosing it without being asked about it in interviews? What stance do software/electronics industry company policies in general take on this?

(If it matters at all, I'm looking for answers in the context of UK-based companies.)