Top entrepreneurs demand ‘radical reset’ in new campaign
Britain is entrenched in a narrative of decline that can only be reversed with a radical political and cultural reset, a group of top entrepreneurs has warned at the launch of a campaign to improve the investment and trading environment for Britain’s fastest-growing companies.
Spearheaded by Ovo Energy founder Stephen Fitzpatrick and Founders Factory chair Brent Hoberman, Enterprise Britain issued a clarion call for the country to seize the “narrow window of opportunity” for the UK to regain its place in the world” against a backdrop of defeatism.
The group’s founding members, who also comprise Multiverse founder Euan Blair and Lastminute.com grandee Baroness Martha Lane-Fox, tabled a swathe of pro-business reforms they believe will help arrest the narrative of decline, including U-turns on the government’s National Insurance and non-dom crackdowns, and measures to boost executive pay.
“We are entrepreneurs, business leaders, and investors who love Britain and are determined
to see it succeed,” they wrote in a paper on Tuesday. “Our task is urgent. We have a narrow window of opportunity in which Britain can not only regain its place in the world, but shape it.”
Fresh polling commissioned by the group found that some 74 per cent of Brits believe the UK’s position in the global economy is declining. Members warned that the finding, alongside recent numbers showing the UK grew just 0.1 per cent in the last three months of the year, laid bare “the urgency of the moment”.
Entrepreneurs urge pension funds to back UK firms
Among the torrent of other policy recommendations, the entrepreneurs urged ministers to make it easier hire top talent by “giving people the power to reduce their notice period to one month” and banning non-compete clauses. They also called for measures to boost institutional and individual investment, including tax incentives to encourage pension funds and retail investors to back British firms.
“In the UK, few people benefit from the success of British companies,” Fitzpatrick told Morning Wire. “And that means, politically, it’s difficult to enact policies that would create an environment where businesses would really thrive.”
He added: “We’re not arguing for lower corporation tax or looser employment laws. We’re talking about policies that would make a difference for the companies that will be globally relevant in the next 10 years.”
The movement is the latest of several warnings to emerge from the pocket of fast-growing private companies often dubbed ‘scale-ups’ of a policy and investment landscape that is stifling growth. Octopus Energy founder Greg Jackson lamented pension funds’ hesitancy to back private firms in an interview with Morning Wire. He had previously urged the London Stock Exchange to “show more hustle” in its bid to attract the company’s tech spin-off Kraken to IPO in the capital.
Meanwhile several entrepreneurs – including Checkout.com founder Guillaume Pousaz – have relocated abroad in the face of a slew of wealth-targeting tax measures. Revolut’s billionaire chief executive Nik Storonsky also relocated to the Middle East. before reversing his decision last month.
Fitzpatrick added: “There is a lot of noise about people leaving for places like Milan, Madrid, and Dubai. This never-ending discussion is creating a sense of declinism that risks becoming self-fulfilling. We wanted to create a platform for entrepreneurs, business leaders, and investors to talk up Britain and help the country regain some of its confidence.”