UNDER EMBARGO — LIFTS WEDNESDAY 00.01 29 OCTOBER 2025
BRITAIN RISKS LOSING STARTUP EDGE TO GLOBAL RIVALS BUT CAN WIN IT BACK WITH BOLD ACTION, NEW REPORT ARGUES
Major new report based on the insights of 200 young entrepreneurs warns Britain risks losing its startup edge, and calls on the Government to keep the UK attractive for fledgling founders
Britain faces a unique opportunity to lure mobile international talent to its shores – if the Government acts on investment, regulation and immigration to keep pace with competitors
The report will be launched in Parliament on 29 October, with remarks from Callum Anderson MP, bringing together hundreds of young founders and leaders from the UK’s startup ecosystem
London, UK — A major new report from the Young Entrepreneurs Forum, a project led by The Entrepreneurs Network, has warned that Britain risks losing its attractiveness as a place in which young founders can succeed at building innovative startups.
In Ambition Unlimited, they argue that while many of the fundamentals of Britain’s startup ecosystem remain strong, younger founders face unique challenges that are getting overlooked by policymakers, and are increasingly being enticed to relocate to faster-moving rivals abroad.
Sean Kohli, Chair of the Young Entrepreneurs Forum, said: “Britain has no shortage of talent or ambition, but too much of that potential is still being held back. We need a system that supports us, not one that hinders us. Culturally, we’ve made entrepreneurship seem like an impossible dream for too many driven innovators. That mindset kills more startups than failure ever will. In California, I see what a truly supportive ecosystem looks like – risk is celebrated, capital moves fast, and regulation keeps pace with innovation. If we want fast-growing startups, we need real reform. The next generation of founders are ready to lead; now Britain needs to be ready to back them.”
Though the report stresses that fears of a full-blown exodus of talent to places like Silicon Valley or Dubai are exaggerated, it argues not only that Britain cannot rest on its laurels, but also that there is a significant opportunity right now to lure mobile international talent – if it can act decisively to modernise policy.
Based on the views and opinions of nearly 200 young entrepreneurs, The Entrepreneurs Network highlights seven key policy areas where the Government should focus its efforts – including the investment landscape, government initiatives, immigration frameworks and the tax system.
Ambition Unlimited will be officially launched at a reception in the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday 29 October, with remarks from Callum Anderson MP, Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Sean Kohli. In attendance will be hundreds of young founders and other leaders drawn from Britain’s startup ecosystem.
To inform the research, The Entrepreneurs Network ran a survey for young founders to give their perspectives on a range of questions, as well as conducting several in-depth case studies which feature throughout the report.
The report makes a number of policy recommendations to address some of the main bottlenecks facing young founders in Britain today. These include improving how publicly-funded accelerator and incubator programmes operate, increasing the generosity of tax relief schemes for investment into startups, liberalising immigration rules that make it difficult for promising talent to come to or remain in Britain, and experimenting with novel funding mechanisms to support innovative startups. (A full list of the recommendations is below.)
Eamonn Ives, Research Director at The Entrepreneurs Network, said: “The strength of Britain’s economic future hinges on its ability to allow young founders to flourish. Promising entrepreneurs at the start of their journeys have the world at their feet, and the Government should be doing all it can to make sure they’re building here in the UK – not elsewhere. Britain already gets a lot of the hard stuff right when it comes to nurturing entrepreneurship, but with other nations quickly catching up, we cannot afford to get complacent.”
Below are the seven policy themes the report focuses on, alongside the headline findings about them and policy recommendations to address issues faced by young entrepreneurs.
Investment
Britain performs well at attracting early-stage investment into promising startups, thanks in part to long-standing tax reliefs on investment. But years of inflation have now eroded the value of these schemes, and perennial issues remain for firms accessing growth capital from institutional investors.
Commit to increasing the generosity of the Enterprise Investment Scheme and its Seed stage equivalent to keep pace with inflation and market trends.
Ensure the Mansion House reforms deliver in terms of getting more investment from institutional capital into startups.
Abolish Stamp Duty on shares to increase the attractiveness of London as a place to list.
Regulation
Starting a business in Britain is a straightforward process, and the general background level of business regulation is manageable. However, on emerging tech and disruptive business models, the regulatory state is still too cautious and too slow to adapt.
Use bodies like the RIO to ensure British startups can bring innovation to established industries, and break through in emerging sectors.
Immigration
Top talent from around the world regard Britain as an incredibly attractive place to build in. But recent reforms that restrict visas risk this status.
Remain open to high-skilled and promising labour – creating pathways for top talent that are navigable and competitively priced.
Explore ways to recognise the value of equity in lieu of salary with regard to salary thresholds for Skilled Worker visas.
Avoid common failure modes for the Global Talent Taskforce so that it can be as effective as possible in proactively enticing the world’s brightest and best to Britain.
Taxation
Entrepreneurs are now starting to feel the burden of taxation weighing more heavily than has previously been the case in recent years. Other jurisdictions are increasingly being singled out as being attractive for mobile founders.
Keep taxes on wealth creators globally competitive – especially Capital Gains Tax.
Education
Britain’s universities stand out as being genuinely world-class – undertaking cutting-edge research and producing a pipeline of skilled graduates. Yet, issues remain with commercialising academic research, and there is a sense universities could do a better job at instilling an entrepreneurial mindset among students – something that is also true at earlier stages of education.
Move towards a system of Professor’s Privilege that vests intellectual property with academics who are then empowered to spin out their research on more attractive and investible terms.
Embed entrepreneurship throughout the education system, raising awareness of entrepreneurship as a career and encouraging individuals to pursue it.
Government initiatives
There is a recognition that the government has a large footprint in terms of initiatives for entrepreneurs and innovators, but it is not always clear whether these are as effective as they could be.
Overhaul state funding for startup support programmes so that they genuinely deliver what is demanded from founders.
Experiment with novel R&D funding mechanisms for startups which cut bureaucracy and allow entrepreneurs to focus on actually innovating.
Culture
Whether Britain has an entrepreneurial culture is up for debate – with respondents conflicted one way or the other. Many believe that other countries, chiefly the United States of America, do a better job at celebrating entrepreneurship, which if we matched here in Britain would pay dividends.
No single policy recommendation can fix the culture of an entire nation. Infusing a spirit of entrepreneurship into society will take years, decades or even centuries to achieve – and will be downstream of a host of more material factors going right. One critical ingredient will be successful role models that aspirational entrepreneurs grow up wanting to emulate and learn from. To a large extent, doing what we can to help today’s entrepreneurs be as successful as possible may be the best way to ensure those of tomorrow are similarly inspired to build incredible businesses.
Notes to Editors
You can read Ambition Unlimited here.
Eamonn Ives, author of Ambition Unlimited, is available for interview.
We are happy to pass on any interview requests to young founders who featured in the report.
Spaces are still available for press to attend the report launch event in Parliament, from 3.30-5pm on Wednesday 29 October. Please contact Philip Salter at philip@tenentrepreneurs.org to register.
About Young Entrepreneurs Forum
The Young Entrepreneurs Forum is a project led by The Entrepreneurs Network. It exists to connect and empower young entrepreneurs around the world and to influence policy environments to better support them. The Forum champions innovation, ambition, and practical action to unlock the potential of the next generation of entrepreneurs.
In its inaugural year, the Forum has focused on identifying solutions to the barriers that hold back young founders in the UK. Through a series of events, consultations, case studies, and a survey, the Forum has gathered insights from a diverse cross-section of young founders.
About The Entrepreneurs Network
The Entrepreneurs Network is a think tank for Britain’s most ambitious entrepreneurs. We bridge the gap between entrepreneurs and policymakers, with the aim of making Britain the best place in the world to start and grow a business. We have a network of over 10,000 entrepreneurs and are the Secretariat of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Entrepreneurship, which sits across the House of Commons and House of Lords.
About Sean Kohli
Sean Kohli is a venture capitalist and technology entrepreneur with a global perspective on innovation. He is a General Partner at an early-stage fund that grew out of the Why You Should Join platform, where he invests in high-growth startups across Silicon Valley, and also manages a Luxembourg-based fund focused on transformative late-stage companies.
A graduate of UCLA and a board member of Team Vitality, one of Europe’s leading esports organisations, Kohli’s work spans emerging sectors including artificial intelligence, gaming, and advanced voice technology. He is also the co-founder of Jango.AI and an advocate for building a stronger, more inclusive startup culture in the UK.
As Chair of the Young Entrepreneurs Forum, he champions the next generation of founders and calls for bold policy reform and smarter support systems to ensure the UK remains globally competitive in an AI-driven world. With a lifelong passion for innovation, social impact and sustainability, Kohli is committed to backing ventures that challenge convention and help shape the future.
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