‘Too much tax, too much regulation’: Fintech chief sounds alarm on UK economy and IPO market
The boss of one of the UK’s fastest-growing fintech unicorns has warned the country risks “putting founders off” with overregulation and heavy taxation as speculation rises that the Labour government could make a major lurch to the left.
Paul Taylor, who founded banking software firm Thought Machine in 2014, told Morning Wire he feared UK businesses were “hanging on by the fingernails” under mounting cost pressures.
When questioned what policies he feared a more left-wing government could introduce, Taylor said: “We’ve got too much tax, too much borrowing, too much regulation… it’s not a question of pinpointing just one thing.”
Taylor’s remarks come as Britain gears up for its seventh Prime Minister in the space of 10 years as former Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is expected to be handed the keys to Downing Street after an unchallenged leadership contest.
Burnham’s expensive promises – which include the nationalisation of utility firms, some form of compensation for Waspi women and reviving the HS2 leg to Manchester – have heightened fears of a third consecutive tax-heavy Budget by the Labour government.
Capital gains hike ‘profoundly unfair’
Burnham is yet to reveal his pick for Chancellor, with a handful of names speculated to be in the running including energy secretary Ed Miliband and former health secretary Wes Streeting.
One proposal already floated by Streeting includes what he brands a “wealth tax that works,” where capital gains tax (CGT) is brought in line with income tax. The former Cabinet minister said mirroring CGT with the three income tax bands, set at 20, 40 and 45, would raise £12bn.
The measure is also endorsed by close ally of Burnham, Louise Haigh, who speared his campaign in the Makerfield byelection.
Taylor labelled the proposal as “profoundly unfair,” adding the current 24 per cent on the “occasional win is really quite reasonable”.
He added: “If they did raise it and you had high probability that a Conservative or Reform or whatever else government was coming in a couple of years – you’re just not going to sell, you’re going to hang on.”
City’s stamp duty is ‘anachronistic’
The fintech boss said he worried the growing agitation around the economy was turning entrepreneurs away from setting up shop in the UK.
“A lot of people came to London to start companies because it was the most dynamic place in Europe – I fear we’re putting them off,” he said.
He added other countries were “ramping up” efforts with entrepreneur Visas.
Thought Machine was founded in London over a decade ago and fetched a $2.7bn valuation in a 2022 funding round. In the last year, the firm grew its revenue 57 per cent to just shy of £75m.
He anticipated the company would make its public debut “between two and three years” but was not convinced his home market would be the location of choice.
“From a sentimental point of view… I’d like to [list in London],” he said.
“But there has to be a rational side to it too – we certainly haven’t ruled it out, we certainly haven’t ruled out other markets.”
City officials went on a lobbying offensive last year in hopes of opening the floodgates to an influx of fintech IPOs. But no such move has come, part in thanks to the market frenzy caused by the Iran war.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves attempted to stir up some excitement with a holiday on stamp duty for new listings, giving them a three-year break following their IPO from the 0.5 per cent levy paid by investors when purchasing shares.
Taylor said the UK market was “anachronistic” for having “any level” of stamp duty and added the changes were not “big enough to really change anybody’s mind either for or against”.
Instead, he suggested a rule where venture capital investors would receive holidays on capital gains, in a bid to create a “positive sentiment”.
“If we had a real movement of 10 or 20 tech companies IPOing in London in favorable conditions, that would be enough to get it going.
“Then once they’re away, the investors will come in, once the investors have come in, other companies will come in and then off we go.”