Labour must pull back from the brink and support the UK’s founders
With half term holidays upon us, Portugal is a safe bet for a bit of winter sun. The forecast for Lisbon this week is 24 degrees and sunny, whereas London is set to be much cooler with rain sweeping in by Friday.
Things may get even gloomier when the Chancellor unveils her Budget next week.
Portugal has many charms, and its current openness to international entrepreneurs is just one of them.
Over the weekend, the founder and author Daniel Priestley, posted on X, “I’m in several WhatsApp groups of UK entrepreneurs/founders. There’s only one conversation trending at the moment – how to leave the UK.”
He shared some screengrabs of these chats, and the contents will do little to put a spring in the Chancellor’s step. Priestley was sharing this in sorrow, but he was also highlighting a perfectly pragmatic reaction to possible changes in the way businesses and founders are set to be treated in this country as a result of government policy.
Images of these WhatsApp exchanges, complete with sad face emojis, add a human voice to the mass of open letters from founders, reports from economic consultancies and frantic lobbying that have all made the front page of City PM in recent weeks and have all told the same story; people who have built a business here no longer see it as a viable place to grow or exit that business.
This is a shocking state of affairs and of far greater consequence than anything announced at last week’s Investment Summit. Data centres and wind farms are all well and good, but a thriving entrepreneurial environment that encourages risk – and rewards it – should not be given up lightly.
There are many reasons why the UK has become such fertile ground for innovation and entrepreneurship, and not all of these qualities can be found in Portugal or Dubai, but when push comes to shove, tax rates matter.
Founders have chosen a difficult path, one fraught with risk and sacrifice but which might one day pay off. That’s the deal they’ve struck with themselves, and very often their families. In the words of Oli Barrett MBE (Services to Entrepreneurship) this calculation bubbles “deep in the back of a founder’s mind.”
If the Chancellor blunders by hitting this group with high taxes, the calculation gets a whole lot easier.