Dear Chancellor – The First 500

On Friday we launched an open letter to the Chancellor on reported changes to CGT. Over 500 entrepreneurs have already signed it. Here are the first 500. You can read and sign the letter here.

1. Philip Salter – Founder, The Entrepreneurs Network

2. Melissa Morris – Founder & CEO, Lantum

3. Martin Frost CBE – Co-Founder, CMR Surgical

4. Giles Andrews OBE – Co-Founder, Zopa

5. Rishi Khosla – Co-Founder & CEO, OakNorth Bank

6. Emma Jones CBE – Founder, Enterprise Nation

7. Justin Basini – Co-Founder & CEO, The ClearScore Group

8. Victor Riparbelli Rasmussen – Co-Founder & CEO, Synthesia

9. Erika Brodnock MBE – Co-Founer & CEO, Kinhub

10. Whitney Hawkings – Founder & CEO, FLOWERBX

11. Matthew Hare OBE – Founder & CEO, Zzoomm

12. David Benigson – Founder & CEO, Signal AI

13. Christoph Rieche – Co-Founder & CEO, iwoca

14. Robin Tombs – Co-founder & CEO, Yoti

15. Anna Maxwell – Founder & CEO, Maxwellia

16. Sabrina Del Prete – Founder & CEO, Kore Labs

17. Ann Kramer – Founder & CEO, The Electrospinning Company

18. Tim Chong – Co-founder & CEO, Yonder

19. Thesokkumar Jivajirajah – Co-Founder, Yonder

20. David Jarvis – Founder & CEO, Griffin Bank

21. Sarah McVittie – Co-Founder, Dressipi

22. Brad Goodall – Founder & CEO, Banked

23. Alexander Mifsud – Co-Founder & CEO, Weavr.io

24. Jeff Lynn – Co-Founder & Chairman, Republic Europe

25. Eddie Harrison – Co-Founder, Navro

26. James Dean – Founder & CEO, Sensat

27. Nigel Purves – Co-Founder & CEO, Wayhome

28. Darren Jobling – Co-Founder & CEO, ZeroLight

29. John Goodall – Founder & CEO, Landbay

30. Richard Mabey – Founder & CEO, Juro

31. Phelim Bradley – Co-Founder & CEO, Prolific

32. Robert Griffin – Co-Founder & CEO, MIRACL

33. Andrew Yates – Co-Founder & CEO, FullCircl

34. Michael Nabarro – Co-Founder & CEO, Spektrix

35. Ali Afshar – Co-Founder & CEO, Mytos

36. Matthew Dreaper – Co-Founder, Oxford Space Systems, KEIT, Fusion Energy Partners

37. Will Stewart – Co-Founder & CEO, Northflank

38. Iain Griffin – Founder & CEO, Seatfrog

39. Steve Coulson – Founder & CEO, Kitt Technology

40. JP Doumeng – Co-Founder & CEO, Napo Pet Insurance

41. Will Goodwin – Co-founder, Tumelo

42. Dev Amratia – Co-Founder & CEO, nPlan

43. Alan Mosca – Co-Founder & CTO, nPlan

44. Aldo Monteforte – Founder & CEO, The Floow

45. Asi Sharabi – Co-Founder & CEO, Wonderbly

46. Anthony Eskinazi – Founder & CEO, JustPark

47. Chris Edson – Co-Founder & CEO, Second Nature

48. Nick Jones – Co-Founder & CEO, Zumo

49. Louise Birritteri – Founder & CEO, Pikl

50. Alex Depledge MBE – Founder & CEO, Resi

51. Richard Moross – Founder & CEO, moo.com

52. George Graham – Co-Founder & CEO, Wolf & Badger

53. Deepak Ravindran – Co-Founder, Oddbox

54. Ashutosh Bhatt – Founder & CEO, Pillar

55. Naimish Gohil – Founder & CEO, Satchel

56. Timothy Brownstone – Founder & CEO, KYMIRA

57. Freddie Green – Co-Founder, Minimum

58. Amon Ghaiumy – Co-Founder & CEO, Ophelos

59. Mark McDermott – Co-Founder & CEO, ScreenCloud

60. Ellie Webb – Founder & CEO, Caleño Drinks

61. Alexander Lempka – Co-Founder & CEO, Connect Earth

62. Will Mason – Founder & CEO, Infact Systems

63. Nick Perrett – Founder & CEO, Prosper

64. Pip Murray – Founder & CEO, Pip & Nut

65. Toby Austin – Founder & CEO, Beauhurst

66. Johannes Solzbach – Co-Founder & CEO, Clustermarket

67. Laura Towart – Founder & CEO, My Personal Therapeutics

68. Fraser Smeaton – Founder & CEO, MorphCostumes

69. Tamzin Lent – Founder & CEO, Where You At

70. Llewellyn Kinch – Founder & CEO, Switchd

71. Anthony Rose – Co-founder & CEO, SeedLegals

72. Miguel Martinez – Co-Founder, Signal AI

73. Karl Deady – Founder, Cinos

74. Lisa Robinson – Founder & CEO, companiions

75. Stephen Crosher – Co-Founder & CEO, RheEnergise

76. Justin Fitzpatrick – Co-Founder, FullCircl

77. Duncan Cheatle – Founder & CEO, Learn Amp

78. Constantine Karampatsos – Founder & CEO, Good Life Sorted

79. Jing Ouyang – Co-Founder, Patchwork Health

80. Wayne Lloyd – Founder & CEO, Smarter Contracts

81. Brian Harrison – Co-Founder & CEO, Swoon Editions

82. Raj Meghani – Co-Founder, BLOCKAPT

83. Lyndsey Simpson – Founder & CEO, 55/Redefined

84. Pip Wilson – Co-Founder & CEO, Amicable

85. Hon Lung Keith Tsui – Co-Founder & CEO, Medwise AI

86. Simon Banks – Founder CSL Group

87. David Boon – Founder & CEO, Dijuno

88. Claire Harrison – Founder & CEO, GetSetGo Group

89. Ben Prouty – Co-Founder & CEO, PonchoPay

90. Sarah Bolt – Co-Founder & CEO, Humankind Ventures

91. Terry Canning – Co-Founder & CEO. CattleEye

92. Beth Michael – Co-Founder, Streeva

93. Pauline Paterson – Founder & CEO, Dr.PAWPAW

94. Caroline Goodman – Founder & CEO, Institutional Protection Services

95. Dr Diana Hodgins MBE – Founder & CEO, Dynamic Metrics

96. Gary Jones – Co-Founder & CEO, MediMusic

97. Rupert Schneider – Founder & CEO, Gardenia Technologies

98. Dominic Hall – Co-Founder & CTO, Biographica

99. Glen Calvert – Co-Founder & CEO, Kaizan

100. Lucinda O'Connor – Founder & CEO, Clothes Doctor

101. Katerina Pljaskovova – Founder & CEO, Fair HQ

102. Daniel Howitt – Co-Founder & CEO, Recap

103. Richard Turnbull – Founder & CTO, Officely

104. Tina Warner-Keogh – Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Warner’s Distillery

105. Matt Milligan – Co-Founder, Uhubs

106. Daniel Gill – Founder & CEO, Augnet

107. Graham Cook – Co-Founder & CFO, RheEnergise

108. Jay Orlean-Taub – Co-Founder & CEO, Sipgood

109. Neil Taub – Co-Founder, ZoomDoc

110. Cindy van Niekerk – Founder & CEO, Umazi

111. Irene McAleese – Co-Founder & CSO, See.Sense

112. Tariq Attia – CEO, IW Capital

113. Sarah Montgomery – Co-Founder & CEO, Infyos

114. Lara Mott – Co-Founder & CEO, ImproveWell

115. Areeb Siddiqui – Founder & CEO, Kestrl

116. Dr Cristian Gherhes – Founder & CEO, Lexverify

117. Janthana Kaenprakhamroy – Founder & CEO, Tapoly

118. Jonny Philp – Co-Founder & Director, Nursem Skincare

119. Kate Jillings – Co-Founder, ToucanTech

120. Dr Paul Reynolds – Founder & CEO, FSD Active

121. Tom Barltrop – Co-Founder, SuperFi

122. Chris Jackson – Co-Founder, OptAxe

123. Nadia Simonds – Founder, Lune & Wild

124. Philip Callow – Founder & CEO, Rosetta Risk Management

125. Leo Kellgren-Parker – Founder & CEO, LIVR

126. Sarah Dowzell – Co-Founder, Natural HR

127. Ben Maughan – Co-Founder, Add to Event

128. Jason Mohr – Founder & CEO, LoveJunk

129. Tamsin Dewhurst – Founder & CEO, Uptree

130. Seb Wallace – Co-Founder, Further

131. Johnny Paterson – Co-Founder Dr.PAWPAW

132. Olivier Scaramucci – Founder & CEO, Boutique Brands

133. Rachael Grimaldi – Co-Founder & CEO, CardMedic

134. Alistair Sergeant – Founder &. CEO, Niico

135. Edward Hall – Founder & CEO, Qualification Check

136. Alex Freeman – Co-Founer & CEO, Stance Fitness

137. Steve Monk – Founder, Good Guys Bakehouse

138. Sam Peters – Co-Founder & CEO, Vyde

139. Jason Dowzell – Founder & CEO, Natural HR

140. Akber Tahir – Founder & CEO, Pharmovo AI

141. Chloe Sweden – Founder & CEO, Lowr

142. Rowan Jackson – Co-Founder & Executive Chair, Promising Outomes

143. Barbara Gottardi – Co-Founder & CEO, Finbridge Global

144. Betty Bonnardel-Azzarelli MBE – Founder & CEO, Farmer Charlie

145. Mark Taylor – Co-Founder, BizNest

146. Gary Hunter – Founder & CEO, Redu Group

147. Kuntal Fisher – Founder & CEO, FIECON

148. Paddy Willis – Co-Founder, Mission Ventures

149. Richard Heggie – Co-Founder, Enginuity

150. Oli Bates – Founder & CEO, 4WALLS

151. Felicia Meyerowitz Singh – Co-Founder, Engage Smarter AI

152. Robert Sims – CEO, Sum Vivas

153. Steven South – Founder & CEO, Hydra EVC

154. Lily Elsner – Co-Founder & CEO, Jack Fertility

155. Mercurius Saad – Co-Founder & CEO, Tutorbloc

156. Adam Allen-Rogers – Co-Founder, AI Fit

157. Saideep Gogineni – Founder & CEO, Novocuris

158. Julia Kemp – Founder, Pawpass

159. Ken Hendricks – Co-Founder & CEO, Basepilot

160. Dominic Ponniah – Co-Founder & CEO, Cleanology

161. Sam Soares – Co-Founder & CEO, MPWR-365

162. Joseph Burns – Co-Founder & CEO, Reformed IT

163. Frederick Mark Tughan – Co-Founder & CEO, Comic Enterprises

164. Lorna MacLean – Co-Founder & CEO, Demetria

165. Kevin Withane – Founder & CEO, Diversity X

166. Jon Dobinson – Founder & CEO, other group

167. Dom Hawes – Founder & CEO, Selbey Anderson

168. Amanda Coulson – Founder & CEO, SVC Solutions

169. Ollie Scott – Founder & CEO, UNKNOWN

170. Kerry Burn – Co-Founder & CEO, 848 Group

171. Ben Putley – Co-Founder & CEO, Alkimi

172. Dermot O’Grady – Co-Founder & CEO, Ardent Tide

173. Michael Venner – CEO, Auva Certification

174. Julian Daniel – Founder & CEO, BSB Construction

175. Alan Smith – Founder & CEO, Capital Asset Management

176. Charles Groome – Co-Founder & CEO, Everna

177. Simon Francis – Founder & CEO, Flock Associates

178. Stephen Findlay – CEO, Growth CFO

179. Neil Davidson – CEO, HeyHuman

180. Dominic Wheatley – CEO, Interactive Partners

181. Dr Frazer Thompson – CEO, Invicta Tweed plc

182. David Whittaker – CEO, Keystone Property Finance

183. Dips Patel – CEO, KitKing

184. Simon Barry – Founder & CEO, Knowbotics AI

185. Matt McDonnell – CEO, Medicare EMS Group UK

186. Jason Pearson – CEO, On Chain International

187. Edward Bussey – CEO, Oxford Science Enterprises

188. Andrew Pullman – CEO, People Risk Solutions

189. Tom O’Hagan – CEO, PXC

190. Charles Skinner – CEO, Restore plc

191. Natasha Guerra – Co-Founder & CEO, Runway East

192. Tom Perry – Founder & CEO, Sherpa

193. Alan Wing-King – Founder & CEO, Syntegra Group

194. Leonard Evans – Founder & CEO, The Profs

195. Emma Mirrington – CEO, The Talent Labs

196. Christian Edwards – Co-Founder & CEO, This is Tommy

197. Shain Khoja – Founder & CEO, Thriving Ai

198. Amy Hopper – Founder & CEO, TOA Group

199. Aaron Ross – CEO, Vix Technology

200. Dinesh Dhamija – Founder & Chairman, Copper Beech Group

201. Joe Nelson – Chief Strategy Officer, Heartfelt Technologies

202. Georgi Rollings – Co-CEO, Starfish Accounting

203. Saudenh Doctzan – Co-Director, May Sum Restaurant Nottingham

204. Hannes Verschueren – Co-Founder & CEO, atomic

205. Rupert Patrick – Co-Founder & CEO, James Eadie

206. Emily Gill – Co-Founder & CEO, LEVRA

207. Paddy Stobbs – Co-Founder & CEO, Stackfix

208. Adam Thomas Orme – Co-Founder & CEO, Trinity Space Technologies

209. Ami Daniel – Co-Founder & CEO, Windward

210. Carlo Keenan Ross – Co-Founder & COO, Bridge

211. Jake Wells – Co-Founder & COO, Meshed

212. Wil Benton – Co-Founder & Director, Metta. VP, Aerospace Xelerated

213. Clara Latham – Co-Founder & Managing Director, Deeply Foods

214. Jill Willis – Co-Founder, Attract & Engage

215. David Turney – Co-Founder, Avery Law

216. Tom Griffiths – Co-Founder, BitCompli

217. Jag Singh – Co-Founder, Bricktrade

218. Harrison Thomas – Co-Founder, Elephants

219. Rune Sovndahl – Co-Founder, Fantastic Services

220. Sunjit Saroya – Co-Founder, GiroStor

221. Hetesh Pal – Co-Founder, GiroStor

222. Sophie Eden – Co-Founder, Gordon & Eden

223. Sam Waterfall – Co-Founder, Greenwood Foods

224. Edward Wijnen – Co-Founder, Intuicon.ai

225. Paul Billingham – Co-Founder, Knight Corporate Finance

226. Ash Dey – Co-Founder, Lyfe

227. Will Taylor – Co-founder, Old House Labs

228. Fabricio Chavarro – Co-Founder, Otravista Consulting LLP

229. Tim Simpson – Co-Founder, Pinchful

230. Bridie Cunningham – Co-Founder, Portman Scott

231. Robert Irvin – Co-Founder, RMS Partners

232. Colin Weston – Co-Founder, TidyChoice

233. Andrew Dougan – Co-Founder, Viital

234. Guy Pengelley – Co-Founder, Viresco Group

235. Dr Nikhit Anilbhai – Co-Founder, Your Cue

236. Sonakshi Senthil – Co-Founder, Your Cue

237. Charlotte Pegg – Co-Founder, ZEN8

238. Andrew Stephen Brode – Director & Former Chair, RWS Holdings PLC

239. Cain Ullah – Founder & Board Director, Red Badger

240. Zoe Robson – Founder & CEO, Strateva Group

241. Rudy Parengal – Founder & CEO, Abjak

242. James Gozney – Founder & CEO, Aslan

243. Spencer Gallagher – Founder & CEO, Cactus

244. Becks Armstrong – Founder & CEO, Clarity

245. Ahana Banerjee – Founder & CEO, Clear

246. Suzy Ferreira – Founder & CEO, Dinie

247. Emma Shipley – Founder & CEO, Emma J Shipley

248. Matt Norbury – Founder & CEO, Epoints Rewards

249. Gary Mead – Founder & CEO, euroloos

250. Matt Jonns – Founder & CEO, Founder + Lightning

251. Grace Castillo – Founder & CEO, Gifftid

252. Chris Twigg – Founder & CEO, Inner Circle Consulting

253. Richard Oastler – Founder & CEO, KPI Tree

254. Rob Reeve – Founder & CEO, LexTego

255. Claire Mason – Founder & CEO, Man Bites Dog

256. Johnny Manning – Founder & CEO, Manning's Tutors

257. Diane Banks – Founder & CEO, Northbank Talent Management

258. Serena Fordham – Founder & CEO, ProspHER

259. Rosie Hewat – Founder & CEO, Rosie’s People

260. Sean Ramsden MBE – Founder & CEO, Sean Ramsden International

261. Cathy Moseley – Founder & CEO, Supernatural Food

262. Emmanuel Cohen – Founder & CEO, The Armadillo Group

263. Amanda Thomson – Founder & CEO, Thomson & Scott

264. Alla Ouvarova – Founder & CEO, Two Chicks

265. Kate Bright – Founder & CEO, UMBRA International Group

266. Merilee Karr – Founder & CEO, UnderTheDoormat Group

267. Francis Toye – Founder & CEO, Unilink Software

268. Damian McLaughlin – Founder & CEO, Urban Phoenix

269. Warren Davies – Founder & CEO, Utilize

270. Jonathan Summerfield – Founder & CEO, Xiatech

271. Joe Seddon – Founder & CEO, Zero Gravity

272. Mats Stigzelius – Founder & Chair, Takumi

273. Mark Sweeny – Founder & CEO, de Novo Solutions

274. Bev Shah – Founder & Co-CEO, City Hive

275. Felix Mitchell – Founder & Co-CEO, Instant Impact

276. Charlotte Guzzo – Founder & COO, Sano Genetics

277. Nazim Valimahomed – Founder & CPO, Kroo Bank

278. Jonathan Falkingham MBE – Founder & Creative Director, Urban Splash

279. Thomas Schilling – Founder & Director, Tugela People

280. Tony Craddock – Founder & Director, General of The Payments Association

281. Adam Fudakowski – Founder & Executive Director, Switchee

282. Nicholas R Morgan – Founder & Group CEO, We Group

283. Patricia Ypma – Founder & Managing Director, Spark Legal and Policy Consulting

284. Stephen Britt – Founder & Managing Director, Anchor Storage

285. Paul Theile – Founder & Managing Director, MEL (Holdings)

286. Will Linay – Founder & Managing Director, Stratstone Developments

287. Daniel Philip Astaire – Founder & Managing Partner, Grosvenor Law

288. Jarmila Halovsky-Yu – Founder & MD, YUnique Marketing

289. Bundeep Singh Rangar – Founder & President, PremFina

290. Tom Bohills – Founder & Principal, Founders Law

291. Pascal de Mul – Founder & CEO, Setmixer

292. Nadine Campbell – Founder, ACE Entrepreneurs

293. David Horne – Founder, Add then Multiply

294. Alison Shadrack – Founder, Adia PR

295. Alison Cork – Founder, Alison at Home

296. Christopher Robinson – Founder, Ampsahead

297. Sarah Turner – Founder, Angel Academe

298. Jason Mohr – Founder, Anyjunk

299. Jason Living – Founder, Argyle Square Property Group

300. Rachel Hayward – Founder, Ask the Chameleon

301. Peadar Coyle – Founder, AudioStack

302. Simon Jones – Founder, Baanx

303. Robert Hurst – Founder, Bengeho

304. Harriet Hastings – Founder, Biscuiteers

305. Stefano Di Gregorio – Founder, Boogi

306. Oliver Noakes – Founder, Boulders

307. Dominika Minarovic – Founder, BYBI Beauty

308. Lucy Chamberlain – Founder, C&C Search

309. Nadia Crandall – Founder, Capshore Partners

310. Shernaz Engineer – Founder, Cerity Appointments

311. Guy Tolhurst – Founder, Fintel

312. Niklas Friedberg – Founder, Clustermarket

313. Sid Pourfalah – Founder, Concrete4Change

314. Nick Smith – Founder, Cordel PLC

315. Daniel Szor – Founder, Cotswolds Distillery

316. Louisa Jackson – Founder, Craic

317. Martine Abboud – Founder, Creo Incubator

318. Pawel Kaminski – Founder & CTO, Founder + Lightning

319. Douglas Emslie – Founder, Cuil Bay Capital

320. Akansha Pandey – Founder, Cureline Pvt

321. Dan Martin – Founder, Dan Martin Content & Events

322. Catherine Bedford – Founder, Dashel

323. Hani Armstrong – Founder, Dengi Media

324. Paul Angeli – Founder, digitalPACT

325. David Forsyth – Founder, Document Data Group

326. Christian Nentwich – Founder, Duco

327. David Greenberg – Founder, Eave

328. Laura Sofie – Founder, Elevate Personal Finance

329. Amanda Cook – Founder, Excellent Gourmet Trading

330. Emma Little – Founder, ExecSpace

331. James Van Den Heule – Founder, Fenton Whelan

332. Ed Hill – Founder, Fiddlie Technology

333. Cordelia Meacher – Founder, FieldHouse Associates

334. Shaun Ng – Founder, Fifth Row Technologies

335. Sam Smith – Founder, finnCap

336. Russell Stinson – Founder, Fireheart Coffee

337. Robert Van Den Bergh – Founder, Fluent

338. Valeria Vahorovska – Founder, Fondy

339. Dr Jason Zheng Jiang – Founder, FOSTER Technology

340. Daniel Wardle – Founder, Founder Sales Club

341. Christina Richardson – Founder, Foundology

342. Danny Hall – Founder, FSE Online

343. Nigel Farren – Founder, Fundability

344. Ingrid Murray – Founder, Fundfast

345. Sarah Lloyd-Hughes – Founder, Ginger Training & Coaching

346. Maggie Chen – Founder, Girls in Charge Initiative

347. Russ Shaw CBE – Founder, Global Tech Advocates

348. Sean Kiernan – Founder, Greengage

349. Joe Devereux-Kelly – Founder, GrowGrows

350. Kajal Sanghrajka – Founder, Growth Hub Global

351. Martin Leuw – Founder, Growth4Good

352. Stuart Barr – Founder, Hey Maestro

353. Tim Keaveney – Founder, Homethings

354. Adam Amos – Founder, Iceberg Ventures

355. Simon Thethi – Founder, Indicium Ventures

356. Rushina Shah – Founder, Insane Grain

357. Caitlin Rozario – Founder, interlude

358. Jamie Darkin – Founder, JD Enterprises

359. Kevin Bath – Founder, JimJams Spreads

360. Kate Macdonald – Founder, Kadence Consultancy

361. Ailsa Kiely – Founder, Kiely Transformative Growth

362. Mark O’Neil – Founder, Kinetic Business Advice

363. Lucy Minton – Founder, Kitt Offices

364. Matthew Jack – Founder, Kythera AI

365. Lucy Read – Founder, LA Personal Products

366. Mark Kingsley-Williams – Founder, LawPanel

367. Jude Jennison – Founder, Leaders by Nature

368. Richard Carter – Founder, Lopay

369. Gail Laser – Founder, Love Barnet

370. Gary Stewart – Founder, Lyfeguard

371. Charlie Bradshaw – Founder, Matrix APA (UK)

372. Max Beech – Founder, Maxed Labs

373. Miriam Dervan – Founder, MDE Services

374. Douglas Orr – Founder, Message Matrix

375. Clare Shaw – Founder, Mini Mozart

376. Georgina Bowman – Founder, MYSHOOTS®️

377. Eren Kocyigit – Founder, NBT

378. Kieran South – Founder, North Star

379. Keir Carnie – Founder, Nuud

380. Lydia Carrick – Founder, Apputee

381. Samir Patel – Founder, Omnia Housing

382. Kerry Morgan – Founder, Outsource financial Solutions

383. Catrin MacDonnell – Founder, Papadeli Foods

384. Kelly McCabe – Founder, Perci Health

385. Emma Walford – Founder, Perigon Partners

386. George Phillips – Founder, Phillips Hobbies

387. Sathya Smith – Founder, Piper Technology

388. Stefan Husanu – Founder, Pith & Stem

389. Jamie Beaumont – Founder, Playter

390. Mark Hawes – Founder, Potential HR

391. Nazanin nankali – Founder, Powertutors

392. Rachael Twumasi-Corson – Founder, PPTCS

393. Tony Harrison – Founder, Printercare

394. Amrit Lotay – Founder, Product Sphere

395. Anthony Gale – Founder, PromoLens

396. Edmond Ibrahimi – Founder, Propertalis

397. James Hadley – Founder, Property from Pensions

398. Matthew Pearce – Founder, PuriFire Labs

399. Steven Matthew Hyde – Founder, Push Group

400. Imogen Wethered – Founder, Qudini

401. Rachel Vosper – Founder, Rachel Vosper

402. Simon Newell – Founder, Renewell Water UK

403. Kevin Brittain – Founder, Runpreneur

404. Catherine K Jolly – Founder, Rutherford Glen Global

405. Jack McMahon – Founder, Saint Group

406. Charlie Kenny – Founder, Salve

407. Benedikt von – Founder, Sanome

408. James Digva – Founder, Sauce Shop

409. Laura Harnett – Founder, Seep

410. Cecile Reinaud – Founder, Seraphine Maternity

411. Oliver ashness – Founder, SimplyCook

412. Pallav (Paul) Naha-Biswas – Founder, Sixley & Knowledgemotion

413. Sarah Graham – Founder, Skills4Stem Group

414. Hussain Hilli – Founder, Skrap

415. Damien Gray – Founder, SOAK’d OATS

416. Gareth Deakin – Founder, Sonorous Consulting

417. David Herbada – Founder, Spectroma

418. Melwin mehta – Founder, Sterling Investments

419. Craig Jamieson – Founder, Straw Innovations

420. Martin Banbury – Founder, Streetify.com

421. Katie Lopes – Founder, Stripe & Stare

422. Ben Lakey – Founder, Syndi Health

423. Rayan Bannai – Founder, Table for Ten

424. Bevan Thomas – Founder, Tahu Capital

425. Rakhitha Lakshman Dias – Founder, Terias Consulting

426. Georgina Cotton – Founder, The Accounts Shop

427. Manya Klempner – Founder, The Boxing House

428. Diane Young – Founder, The Drum

429. Matthew Freeman – Founder, The Numbers Studio

430. Torie Blythe-Richards – Founder, The Partnership Collection

431. Harry Turpin – Founder, The Savourists

432. Leah Brown – Founder, The WayFinders Group

433. Amelia Rope – Founder, Third Time Lucky

434. Dan Amos – Founder, Tools for Schools

435. Claire Trachet – Founder, Trachet Advisory

436. Harry Bremner – Founder, Tuggs

437. Gus Tugendhat – Founder, Tussell

438. Dr David Webster – Founder, UK/Romania Business

439. Adrian Wong – Founder, Ultraviolet Venture Community

440. Lucas Johnston – Founder, Umber

441. TJ Lee – Founder, Vagabond Digital

442. Alex Davies – Founder, Wealth Club

443. Simon Hague – Founder, Wheresmylunch

444. Will Polston – Founder, Will Polston Coaching and Training

445. Simon Woodroffe OBE – Founder, YO! Sushi and YOTEL

446. Stephen Phillips – Founder, Zappi

447. Victor Jarland – Founder, ZEN8 Sports

448. Edward Goodchild – Founder, Zendht

449. James Basden – Founder, Zenobe

450. Chris Parsonson – Founder & CEO, Solve Intelligence

451. Adam Spence – Founding Partner, Edition Capital

452. Logan Naidu – Group CEO, Kernel Global

453. Jason Yeomans – CEO, Iglu Tech Group

454. Nicolas Marquez Arnedo – Managing Director, Bocking Homes

455. Nicola Barden – Managing Director, BSF Solid Surfaces

456. Daniel Holloway – Managing Director, Budget Waste Management

457. Alexander Low – Managing Director, DCM insights

458. Stuart Wade – Managing Director, Empire Manufacturing

459. Jamie Willsdon – Managing Director, Future Group

460. Alina Cooper – Managing Director, GetSetGo

461. Jeff Barnett – Managing Director, Industrial Door Systems

462. Mark Brackley – Managing Director, InfiniSki

463. Stephen Burke – Managing Director, John Burke Associates

464. Scot William Gardiner – Managing Director, New Waverley Partners

465. Dan Mitchell – Managing Director, Oakheart Property

466. Ian Banks – Managing Director, One to One Personnel

467. Samuel Bowen – Managing Director, Opal Black Insurance Services

468. Peter Bowles – Managing Director, Original BTC

469. Ian Davis – Managing Director, Packaged Pumps Systems

470. Edward Freeman – Managing Director, Rare Origins

471. Ces Terranova – Managing Director, Red Earth Studio

472. Clive Bonny – Managing Director, Strategic Management Partners

473. Matthew Shanahan – Managing Director, Stream Networks

474. James Hook – Managing Director, SubVision Surveys & SkyVision Surveys

475. Terry Upham – Managing Director, Tau Advisory

476. Angela Prentner-Smith – Managing Director, This is Milk

477. Jaysri Thangam Ananthapadmanabhan – Managing Director, TrillionDollars

478. Charles Cameron – Managing Partner, Cameron Barney Herbst Hilgenfeldt

479. Kevin Tan – Managing Partner, Upsilon Family

480. Irina Pafomova – Managing Partner, Zestic AI

481. Anton Derlyatka – Co-Founder & CEO, Sweatcoin

482. Victoria Johnson – Founder & CEO, VetCT

483. Lucy Walker – Founder, AM Insights

484. Flynn Robinson – Founder & CEO, scOS

485. Michael Blakeley – Founder, Entrepreneurs Collective

486. Harry Cruickshank – Founder, Cruickshank Associates

487. Ruth Simmonds – Co-Founder, TACaccess

488. Kelly Sinclair – Founder, Vero Tech Sales

489. Piers Mummery – Co-Founder, Crunch Technologies International

490. Marcus Love – Co-Founder, Love Ventures

491. Jeffrey Bartlett – Director, Nurture Ventures

492. Sean Cook – Founder & Managing Director, Urban & Regional

493. Steve Monk – Founder, Good Guys Bakehouse

494. Liza Levy – Founder, Unravel Health

495. Hasan Toprakkaya – Founder, Sociality.io

496. Sam Gordon – Co-Founder Gordon & Eden

497. Lilijan Sulejmanovic – Founder, Bardo Ventures

498. Toinette Vicars – Founder, Dot-Connectors

499. Gabriel Isserlis – Founder,Tutti & SuperScout

500. Dean Hills – Co-Founder, EDR Technology

"It Is Serious"

The role of any good think tank or business group is to speak frankly to whoever is in Government. As many of you will already know, we’re asking entrepreneurs to sign a letter to the Chancellor following reports that she is considering hiking Capital Gains Tax (CGT) and further restricting Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR) in the forthcoming Budget.

If you are a founder, you can read and sign our letter here. Whoever you are, please share it far and wide: email, WhatsApp or Slack groups, social media, carrier pigeon etc. The more, the mightier.

In essence, it argues that restricting BADR or hiking CGT rates would jeopardise the success of Britain’s startup ecosystem by enormously weakening the incentive individuals have to start and build businesses. It would also reduce the incentive for startups to offer employee stock options or shares, making it even harder for startups to attract the talent they need to scale.

Any revenue it might raise in the short term would be more than offset by the damage it does to long-run productivity by stifling the growth of future startups.

Below is the letter in full so you can circulate it among your own networks. Previous letters we have coordinated have garnered a lot of support and made a real difference to policy (see here, here, here, here, here, and here). This one has already been signed by over 200 entrepreneurs, including more than a few household names, but we’d like to get even more signatures.

The stakes are high. According to Evelyn Partners, one in three business owners are fast-tracking sales as capital gains raid looms. This is a response (included anonymously with permission) from a foreign-born founder in our network who started his deep tech business in the UK and has raised millions: "Not gonna lie, in my circles people are not signing letters, they are already moving country. Even *discussing* increasing CGT was enough. I know founders who have left the UK only for this reason since the election. I don’t go on record on this but it is serious."

I respectfully disagree that it’s not worth signing letters. We have shifted policy in the past with your help. But I regretfully agree that it is serious.

If you didn’t get my email about this letter, sign up here. Any journalists who want to get in touch about this should drop me email.

The Letter
Dear Chancellor,

Entrepreneurs represent a uniquely important segment of any country’s economy – but especially our own. Britain can rightly claim to be one of the best countries in the world to start and scale a business, and that reputation has been carefully earned over recent decades.

The risks entrepreneurs take in striking out and starting new and innovative companies are essential to moving the economy forward. From startups developing solutions to the climate crisis to those working to revolutionise healthcare, entrepreneurs not only create businesses that provide good, high-paid jobs, they also generate taxes to pay for public services and help tackle pressing social issues too.

At the last general election, many entrepreneurs put their faith in what they recognised was a changed Labour Party – heartened by statements you made about being the party of wealth creation and your promise to give investors the certainty they need to fuel growth. Reporting in the lead up to the Autumn Budget, however, has given many in Britain’s thriving entrepreneurial community pause for thought.

Chief among our concerns are the rumoured restrictions to Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR) and rise in the rate of Capital Gains Tax (CGT). According to The Guardian, your officials have modelled the impact of increasing CGT as high as 33% to 39%. Higher CGT or any restrictions on BADR would make this relief less competitive at a time when the rest of the world is making their reliefs more competitive. It would mean the UK has the second-highest CGT rate in Europe, and jeopardise the success of our country’s startup ecosystem by enormously weakening the incentive individuals have to build businesses. Reporting by The Telegraph gives us some hope that the 39% figure may not be on the table – but businesses need clear and definitive reassurances right now.

This applies as much to British entrepreneurs as it does to founders from abroad who currently view Britain as an attractive destination in which to base their company – previous research from The Entrepreneurs Network revealed that four out of ten of Britain’s fastest-growing companies had a foreign-born founder or co-founder.

Many fledgling startups offer employees stock options or shares as part of their compensation package as they cannot compete with the higher salaries of established big corporates. Further restrictions to BADR would reduce this incentive, making it even harder for startups to attract the talent they need to scale while denying workers the chance to own a piece of Britain's growing companies.

Policymakers should also understand that entrepreneurship is an engine for further economic growth. By discouraging entrepreneurs from starting and growing their businesses, HM Treasury could well end up lowering the tax take overall. Indeed, this is what its own previous modelling suggests. Leading economists are also much more likely to agree than disagree that taxing capital income at a permanently lower rate than labour income would result in higher average long-term prosperity.

Given the straitened public finances it is understandable to leave no stone unturned when looking to balance the books. However, any temptation to rapidly and radically hike CGT should be resisted. Any revenue it might raise in the short term would likely be more than offset by the damage it does to long-run productivity by stifling the growth of future startups.

Our hard-fought reputation as a place where entrepreneurs can successfully build a business has been one of Britain’s economic saving graces. We, the undersigned, urge you to ensure our CGT regime remains competitive and encouraging for founders wanting to get Britain growing again.

You can sign it here.

Lunch & Learn
Our good friends at Enterprise Nation have secured the Small Business Minister, Gareth Thomas MP, for their highly recommended Lunch and Learn series. The session will take place online on 13th November from 1pm to 1.30pm. To register for the free event, please click here.

Education, Education, Recommendations
Our other good friends at Youth Business International (YBI) and Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) have launched a comprehensive Youth Entrepreneurship Framework. The framework brings a fresh perspective on harnessing the opportunity of youth entrepreneurship. It includes 50 actionable recommendations, with each recommendation tied to a case study in GEN’s Atlas – the world’s largest compendium of entrepreneurship policies.

Three Big Ideas #5

Three Big Ideas is our weekly roundup of ideas (and our takes on them) in entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology, handpicked by the team.

In this week, Anastasia Bektimirova writes about thinking boldly, Eamonn Ives looks at the productivity of British ports, and Philip Salter discusses what defines a great founder.

A Nobel Truth

On Wednesday, Keir Starmer will have his first meeting as Prime Minister with Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission. Top of the President’s agenda is negotiating a youth mobility scheme between the UK and EU. It’s top, not necessarily because it’s the most important thing, but because it’s an obvious win-win and a test to prod Starmer on his commitment to building a closer relationship.

Immigration has been top of my own mind over the last few weeks too. I spoke on the topic at both the Labour and Conservatives Party Conferences.

As well as my familiar schtick about immigrants being behind 39% of the UK’s fastest-growing businesses and our suite of policy recommendations, I argued that while immigration and upskilling the domestic workforce are two sides of the same coin, they require very different policy levers to get right.

On skills, while the Government is more or less on the correct track in announcing an expert-led review of curriculum and assessment and it’s commitment to replace the apprenticeship levy with a more flexible Growth and Skills Levy (with the caveat that there will be a higher potential for deadweight costs), its reliance on trying to plug skills gaps from the centre through the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) and Skills England is destined to fail.

The data simply isn’t there to make accurate decisions, nor are any of the functions of the state anywhere near quick enough to respond. This is Hayek’s local knowledge problem writ large, and it’s why free movement – even if limited to the young – beats central planning.

It was Margaret Thatcher who famously grabbed her copy of Hayek’s Constitution of Liberty from her handbag, slammed it down on the table and declared, “This is what we believe.” Those on the other side of politics can learn a thing or two from the Nobel Prize winner without subscribing to everything he believed. After all, Hayek literally wrote a paper called Why I Am Not a Conservative.

It was only four years ago that Keir Starmer said: “We welcome migrants, we don’t scapegoat them. Low wages, poor housing, poor public services, are not the fault of people who come here: they’re political failure. So we have to make the case for the benefits of migration; for the benefits of free movement.”

While times change, economic truths don’t.

SHAPE of Things
Over on our Substack, Anastasia has written up a fascinating interview with ARC Accelerator Co-Founder and Director Chris Fellingham on the commercialisation potential of social sciences, arts and humanities – or what The British Academy calls SHAPE (Social sciences, Humanities and Arts for People and the Economy).

ARC was founded in 2020 and now supports over 45 universities in an ICURe-like commercialisation programme specifically for researchers in social science, arts and humanities. There are lots of great examples cited, but as someone who studied history I’ll point you towards HistoryCity, which was founded by historians from the University of Exeter. They offer immersive trails in European cities and have partnered with organisations like the National Trust and museums to bring the past very much into the present.

For those interested, I would recommend reading the article in full, or at least skimming Anastasia’s X thread. As she says: “Social scientists have deep insights and answers to many pressing issues. If that can’t be translated into solutions, something must be broken or underbuilt.”

Also, in case you missed it, we put out another issue of our weekly Three Big Ideas roundup – on the demise of coal, priorities for growth, and letting a thousand Beatles bloom.

Join Us
As you’ll see, we have a lot coming up. While a fair amount of it is open to anyone – e.g. if you’re an angel investor in Scotland you’ll be accepted onto next week’s Edinburgh roundtable, others will be filled by those who go above and beyond in their support for us.

The more support we get, the more we are able to help entrepreneurs in the UK – including more events that are open for everyone. Now is the time to get on board. Sign up here or book a call with me to find out more.

Interview: SHAPE Shifters

For our latest interview, Anastasia Bektimirova sat down with Chris Fellingham, Co-Founder of ARC Accelerator, to chat about the commercialisation potential of research by academics in social sciences, arts and humanities.

They discussed:

• How ARC Accelerator came about and what gaps in research commercialisation landscape it fills

• Challenges of telling the impact story of SHAPE-based ventures

• The differences between STEM and SHAPE commercialisation

• SHAPE-based company archetypes, business models, and success stories

• Commercialisation potential of pure versus computational social science and digital humanities

• What it would take for SHAPE ventures to become VC-backable, and what high-risk high-reward work looks like in this space

• How we can get more SHAPE commercialisation, and with greater impact

Three Big Ideas #4

Three Big Ideas is our weekly roundup of ideas (and our takes on them) in entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology, handpicked by the team.

In this week, Eamonn Ives explains how coal-fired power was phased out in Britain, Philip Salter writes about the importance of empowering youth entrepreneurship, and guest contributor David Lawrence discusses the results of a survey on priorities for economic growth run by UK Day One.

Angels Advocate

This week I’m opening with a request. If you’re an angel investor who backs female founders, or you’re actively interested in becoming an angel investor, or a female entrepreneur backed by angels, we have a unique opportunity for you to feed into the Government’s Invest in Women Taskforce, co-chaired by multi-exit entrepreneur Debbie Wosskow and Barclays’ Business CEO Hannah Bernard, and backed by the Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

Over the next few weeks, we’re hosting roundtables with Barclays in Newcastle, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Belfast and London. This really is a chance to have your say on policy, get quoted in the report or feature as a case study (or input off-the-record if you prefer), as well as meet like-minded people in your area.

We want to share this opportunity far and wide so we get the very best and diverse insights. Therefore, before you read any further, sign up for an event or forward this email to anyone in your network who might be interested – the more the merrier. Additionally, you can reshare my LinkedIn post, our tweet, or get it out to the great and good through your channels.

We take this topic very seriously. We were the first organisation in Britain to reveal the equity funding gap; we helped launch the Rose Review; and alongside Barclays have been campaigning for policies to support female entrepreneurship through the Female Founders Forum for over a decade.  

We’re also scoping out doing something in Wales (either in person or virtually), so if you’re interested in that or have any questions about these events, drop us an email.

Pepper Questions
Another week, another three big ideas landed on our Substack. While Eamonn wrote about the lessons of US overregulation of Sichuan Pepper and Anastasia opined on the UN’s AI governance efforts, I pointed people towards what might well be this year’s most influential essay on British politics: Foundations.

It’s worth amplifying the alarm raised in the essay that by making it so hard to build, Britain is sabotaging its leadership in the technologies of the new industrial revolution (sorry, despite claims to the contrary, this will be the second not fourth).

But it’s not just AI and biotech. As Foundations states: “Britain’s strongest industries are creative and intangible, and yet we blocked a £750 million film studio by a dual carriageway, right by the UK’s strongest film cluster. Britain is the most advanced country, per capita, in artificial intelligence, but we blocked a £2.5 billion ‘super hub’ data centre site by the M25. Top talent from around the world flocks to work in biotech in Cambridge, yet we have starved the sector of lab space – under one percent of Cambridge lab space is vacant. Prime city centre office space and labs there are renting for even more than residential property.”

RIO ROI
Adviser to the network Ben Greenstone has co-written an excellent report on how regulation is suffocating startups. Igniting Innovation makes for brutal reading. As Ben’s thread on X explains, the Food Standards Agency has approved just 14% of requests since 2021, the Financial Conduct Authority hit just two-thirds of its targets, while the Civil Aviation Authority has yet to authorise out-of-sight drone flights, even though the US and Japan did so two years ago.

There is a great deal of ruin in our regulatory state: Space Forge, the British aerospace manufacturing company headquartered in Cardiff, had to consult eleven different regulators to launch, while an AI legal startup must navigate at least six different regulators to get approval.

The new Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO) might help with some of the regulatory burden. We’re certainly keeping an eye on it. The report recommends it should be given powers to compel regulators to coordinate on emerging technologies, which would certainly be a step in the right direction. I’d be minded to go a step further, and follow John Fingleton’s suggestion to create an N+1 regulator that could give licences to disruptive entrants across the entire economy.

Well Spent
Labour done. Just the Conservative Party conference to go. If you’re there on Monday, I’ll be on a panel with Karim Fatehi MBE (London Chamber of Commerce and Industry), Shuyeb Muquit (Fragomen), Jonathan Thomas (Social Market Foundation) and Heather Rolfe (British Future). We’ll be chatting about the UK’s current immigration system. I’ll be drawing on much of our recent work, including Eamonn’s latest article on the case for increasing youth mobility.

The kids are alright

To conclude our three part series digging into our recent report on Britain’s foreign-born founders, our Research Director Eamonn Ives makes the case for increasing global youth mobility, and how to go about it.

Three Big Ideas #3

Three Big Ideas is our weekly roundup of ideas (and our takes on them) in entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology, handpicked by the team.

In this week, Eamonn Ives writes about Sichuan peppercorns and how regulations can shape our economic possibilities in quite unexpected ways, Anastasia Bektimirova discusses the UN’s approach to AI safety, and Philip Salter examines the essay on economic growth that everyone’s talking about.

Join us for a Female Angel Investor Roundtable in your city

Together with Barclays, we are currently undertaking research for our next Female Founders Forum report. In this year’s report, we are exploring the opportunities and challenges for female angel investors in the UK. The report and its policy recommendations will contribute to the Government-backed Invest in Women Taskforce.

This research will be informed by a series of roundtables across the UK. There will be opportunities for attendees to be quoted in the report and featured as a case study.

We’ll cover:

• Regional challenges in angel investing

• The impact of angel syndicates, groups, and co-investment funds in supporting female entrepreneurs and investors across different regions.

• Strategies to increase women's participation in angel investing through improved support programs and policy changes

• Bridging the gap between entrepreneurs and investors

The roundtables are open to both male and female angel investors, female entrepreneurs who have been backed by angels, and those actively interested in becoming angel investors.

You are invited to join us, and feel free to share with your network!

Newcastle
Monday, 7 October 2024
1.30pm to 3.30pm
Maybrook House, Newcastle upon Tyne
Request a place

Edinburgh
Tuesday, 8 October 2024
1.30pm to 3.30pm
CodeBase, Edinburgh
Request a place

Birmingham
Tuesday, 15 October 2024
1.30pm to 3.30pm
6 Brindley Pl, Birmingham
Request a place

London
Tuesday, 22 October 2024
1.30pm to 3.30pm
1 Churchill Place, London
Request a place

Belfast
Tuesday, 29 October 2024
1.30pm to 3.30pm
Ormeau Baths, Belfast
Request a place

Up and Atom

Ensuring the UK has cheap, clean energy is critical for any entrepreneur looking to build – or power – anything. When energy prices soar, businesses suffer or go bust. That’s why, in Small Wonders, we argue that Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) – developers of which include a host of innovative startups – should play a role in meeting this challenge.

For those unfamiliar with SMRs, these reactors have capacities of around 300 megawatts or less and are modular by design, meaning they are manufactured off-site and then assembled at their intended location. “The potential of SMRs is huge,” explains Will Murray in CapX. “Their modular nature allows for iterative learning and improvement, which means less risk of cost overruns. There is also export potential for SMRs made in the UK.”

As I discussed on Substack, energy is the cornerstone of progress: “Artificial intelligence will demand vast amounts of energy. The International Energy Agency forecasts that by 2026, electricity consumption will exceed 1,000 TWh. Just this week it was announced that Oracle is scoping out using three small nuclear reactors to power a new 1 GW AI data centre. That’s why our report advocates for the co-location of data centres with SMRs, aligning with two of the new Government’s core missions: stimulating economic growth and positioning Britain as a clean energy leader.”

The report, kindly supported by Bradshaw Advisory, is written by our Research Director Eamonn Ives, an expert on energy and environment matters, and who was a Special Adviser to a Cabinet Minister on energy and climate policy prior to joining us. Among other things, we call for the Government to open up more sites for SMR development, allow local authorities approving new nuclear power stations to retain a greater share of the business rates developers would pay, and for Britain to recognise the work of nuclear regulators in allied countries. Eamonn has a cracking thread on X that explains this better than I can.

Some people reading this might have concerns about the mere mention of the word “nuclear.” I won’t waste your time busting every myth about it, but I will point you in the direction of the remarkable work of Dr Hannah Ritchie – specifically this article on Our World in Data, but also more broadly her Sustainability by Numbers Substack.

Mission Possible
This week, my colleague Anastasia Bektimirova interviewed former DSIT policy adviser Ben Johnson on how bridging government and innovation networks can enhance the UK’s competitive edge in science and technology. The interview has made waves across Westminster and is a must-read for anyone invested in these areas. You can read it here.

Reach for the Stars
With party conference season in full swing, if you’re in Liverpool for Labour’s, head to the Main ACC, Auditorium 1C at 9am on Tuesday to hear my thoughts on how Labour should think about aligning policies for work with its skills agenda.

I’ll be speaking alongside a stellar panel, including Seema Malhotra MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary at Home Office, as well as representatives from British Future, London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the National Federation of Builders, and the Social Market Foundation.

If you’re based in or near London and can’t wait until Tuesday, feel free to attend our event on Monday morning.

Time to Join
On 24 October Rathbones is hosting us for a private dinner for our Patrons and Advisers. This will be a valuable opportunity to learn about our policy initiatives and to share your thoughts on the issues entrepreneurs face in relation to government policy. If you’re interested in becoming an Adviser, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Three Big Ideas #2

Three Big Ideas is our weekly roundup of ideas (and our takes on them) in entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology, handpicked by the team.

In this week, Philip Salter digs into our latest report on nuclear reactors, Anastasia Bektimirova reports back on the need for bilingual science, and Eamonn Ives looks at new evidence on the sharing economy.

Interview: Mission Possible

For our first interview in a new series, Anastasia Bektimirova sat down with Ben Johnson, former Adviser to the Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary, to chat about bridging government and innovation networks to seize the UK’s edge in science and technology.

They discussed:

• What the new Government’s five missions mean for DSIT and its interaction with the sector

• How to better deploy expertise and evidence into government

• What needs to happen to make UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) as effective a delivery partner as possible

• Stakeholder engagement beyond public consultations and roundtables

• How the science and technology community can get the Government excited and compelled to invest resources

• Moving from being comparatively good to objectively good at research commercialisation

• Strategic advantage in science and technology beyond economic growth

United We Stand

This week we launched our United Growth report in partnership with Sumer. Based on a survey of entrepreneurs across every region of the UK, we got into the nitty-gritty of the challenges they face, their expectations about the future and their views on different policies that could make their lives easier.

As many of you will be acutely aware, it’s tough out there. By a ratio of more than six to one, business owners agree that economic inequality between the regions of the UK is a problem. And more agree than disagree that they’ve come close to closing in the previous six months. Nearly two in five are currently considering closing up.

With the Budget just around the corner, the Government will no doubt be interested to know that entrepreneurs feel that the tax burden is the single biggest obstacle holding back growth. Things could get worse.

On this, we know that the thousands of entrepreneurs in our network are worried about mooted changes to Capital Gains Tax (CGT). As our Research Director Eamonn Ives argues for CapX: “Though there is a logic to bringing rates of CGT and income tax closer together, nobody doubts that this would have harmful economic consequences – not least lowering the expected return to investment or company growth. If CGT is to rise, we urge the Chancellor to accompany such a move with paring measures such as base reform and targeted carve outs to ensure that genuine entrepreneurship does not get overly penalised in the process.”

The report was launched in our home away from home: the Cholmondeley Room in the House of Lords. After last week’s Labour-led launch, with Jonathan Reynolds and Lord McNicol, this week we crossed the floor of the House to host the Business Secretary’s opposite number, Kevin Hollinrake MP, and the Liberal Democrat MP Victoria Collins, a new Member who, like Kevin, used to be an entrepreneur. As I wrote for Forbes, concern over tax changes were echoed by Kevin, while Victoria expressed particular support for the calls in the report around extending devolution, which called for the granting ‘London-style’ powers to all metro mayors.

Victoria also backed the report’s call for business rates reform – suggesting a commercial landowner levy as an alternative – which aligns with the report’s recommendation for the adoption to tax in proportion to the value of the underlying land that premises sit on. This is an idea inspired by Andrew Dixon, one of our Advisers, who in 2018 commissioned a team to draw up a land value tax to reform business rates and support the struggling high street.

I expect you’ll be hearing a lot more from Sumer as they scale in their efforts to support small businesses. Read City A.M. recent profile of its founder Warren Mead to find out more.

What the Big Idea?
If you’re not already doing so, do give us a follow on Substack. This week we published our first Three Big Ideas, a new series where Eamonn, Anastasia and I share our thoughts on ideas that have captured our attention. The first covers self-driving cars, AI art, and measuring immigrant entrepreneurship. On the topic of visas, Eamonn has written the second deepdive into our Job Creators 2024 report, which is also on our Substack.

More Immigration?
There are few policy areas with as much chopping and changing as visa rules. Consultation after consultation, tweak after tweak, it’s beyond the wit of any business owner to keep on top of it.

I’m no expert, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve given an overview of the visa routes open to perplexed entrepreneurs and their (wannabee) employees – before passing on to someone qualified to give legal advice. In a few weeks, we’ll be hosting an actual expert: Dr Madeleine Sumption, Director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford and Member of the influential Migration Advisory Committee.

If you want to see things nudged in the right direction – come along to support us.

Young, scrappy and hungry

In the second post of our series on our recent research into Britain’s foreign-born founders, our Research Director Eamonn Ives explains how Britain can design a more startup-friendly immigration system.

Three Big Ideas #1

Three Big Ideas is our weekly roundup of ideas (and our takes on them) in entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology, handpicked by the team.

In this week, Eamonn Ives looks at autonomous vehicles, Anastasia Bektimirova weighs in on AI art, and Philip Salter discusses our latest immigration research.

Jonny Be Good

Yesterday we hosted Jonathan Reynolds, Secretary of State for Business and Trade, for the launch of our Backing Breakthrough Businesses report at the House of Lords. It was great to see many of you there, but I know for a fact most of you weren’t as the Cholmondeley Terrace would need to be the size of the Kop to fit you all in. As such, I wanted to share an overview of the speeches.

Lord McNicol of West Kilbride – or Iain, as he prefers – spoke first. He was ⁠General Secretary of Labour Party from 2011-2018, which must have been a challenging a leadership role. But as an experienced entrepreneur in his own right he had the skills to flourish.

Iain co-founded and is Chair of Rewired Earth – a Community Interest Company aiming to transform the way financial markets value sustainability. It lends in the subprime unsecured market, using Open Banking instead of credit reference agencies. Reflecting on our report, he echoed the challenge of scaling in the UK: “Two years ago, we wanted to scale the business. Nobody would touch us in the UK. Not the banks, not the VCs. We had to go to America, where we got the £40m to scale the business.”

He agreed with Valentina Kristensen in her video for the Commission where she said “we need to move away from dividend paying to growth capital.” He thinks we have a great opportunity with the Investment Summit on the 14th of October.

Jonathan Reynolds took the stage with a sobering reminder: while Britain boasts incredible entrepreneurs, something fundamental has shifted since the global financial crisis. He made the important point that while his constituents don’t tell him they’re specifically worried about growth being below the post-war trend, they are worried that their children won’t have the kind of opportunities that they had.

This point matters because previous governments struggled with the fundamentals – something we explain in more detail in our Building Blocks report.

Reynolds argued that Labour can offer stability: “It is not just about stability in terms of the Prime Minister staying the same and what happens between elections. It’s about policy stability as well as part of that. I do now have a vested interest in it, but I think the Business Secretary should last more than one year.”

Finally, Steve Rigby spoke in his role as Chair of the Private Business Commission. Steve is Co-CEO of Rigby Group, and a Patron of The Entrepreneurs Network. It was an uplifting speech: “We’re a £2.3 trillion economy. We’re the sixth largest in the world. We should be proud of what we are,” he said.

But there are headwinds, with recent surveys suggesting that business sentiment is slipping. Given the Budget is coming up, Steve made the case for a tax system that is both a carrot and stick: “if you’re an entrepreneur, you’re trying to grow your business, we also need an environment that allows us to do that.”

Hear, hear!

Misfits Matter
If you care about economic growth, stop what you’re doing and read (or listen) to this interview with James Phillips, who helped develop the UK’s rapid COVID testing and create the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA).

It covers a lot of ground, including letting ‘weirdos and misfits’ inside the government, the civil service efficiency and how we can end economic stagnation with a renewed approach to R&D. Here’s a taster:

“There’s a great quote from Colonel Boyd, ‘People, ideas, machines — in that order!’ Boyd was one of the reformers in the Pentagon in the 1970s, and he’s famous for the OODA loop concept of how fighter jets should engage in combat. That quote contrasts with how almost everything else in government is set up; it’s machines, ideas, and people, in that order. In the UK government, you’ve got your processes, or machines: consultations, reviews, and setting up a bureaucracy. Then once you have this set of tools, you say, ‘Okay, what's the idea?’ ’Well, we're going to look at net zero,’ or, ‘We’re going to look at some issue in tax.’ And then at the end of that, once you’ve got this relatively developed plan, you go out and find the person to run it.”

And something for those with an entrepreneurial mindset:

“Instead of saying, “Let’s do more stakeholder consultations, let's do more reviews,” the brilliant people say, “Actually, it’s pretty obvious what the answer is. Let’s just get on and do it.”

If this has piqued your interest, stay tuned for an interview coming soon on our Substack – sign up here.

Message from our partner
How do you turn adversity into opportunity? On Thursday 17 October, Charles Stanley is partnering with The Telegraph and special guest Sarah Beeny to discuss the secrets of being a seasoned entrepreneur.

This is your chance to gain critical insights on navigating challenges, seizing opportunities, and thriving in uncertain times. Sarah Beeny, renowned property expert and TV personality, will share her experiences and offer practical advice on building resilience and spotting potential in adversity.

Why attend?

• Learn from Sarah Beeny’s wealth of experience in property and media

• Discover strategies to transform challenges into business opportunities

• Network with fellow entrepreneurs and industry experts

• Gain insights into emerging trends, including AI and its impact on business

• Get advice on balancing personal finance with business growth

Spaces are limited, so register now to secure your spot at this exclusive event.

When Borders Aren't Barriers

This week we released Job Creators 2024 in partnership with Fragomen. The data, which Beauhurst provided and we analysed, is conclusive: 39% of the UK’s fastest-growing companies have at least one foreign-born founder.

The UK’s immigrant population is a lot less than this – under 15% at the last count (though it may well be a percent higher today), so we can be sure in stating that immigrants are integral for the UK’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Nadine Goldfoot, managing partner of Fragomen’s UK practice, said to City A.M.: “As the analysis highlights, foreign-born start-up founders have been and are integral to the success of the UK’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Reforms to ensure we continue to attract the world’s brightest minds to the UK, to collaborate alongside homegrown innovators, is a recipe for continued and dynamic economic growth.”

So what should those reforms look like?

I’ll focus on three of the eight we made today.

First, fees need to be lowered for high-skilled immigrants in line with international competitors. Visa costs have increased by over 129% since 2019, with total upfront costs more than other peer countries. It costs nearly seven times as much for a skilled worker to come to the UK for five years with their spouse and a dependant compared to Australia, over 12 times as much compared to Canada and over 86 times as much compared to Germany.

Second, we should expand the High Potential Individual visa to more universities. It should be noted that this visa category was a groundbreaking success, with many around the world envying it, including the US. Its key feature is that unlike something like the H-1B visa, it’s not tied to an employer, which severely constrains the flexibility of beneficiaries, including to launch startups, UK HPI visa holders have the freedom to engage in entrepreneurship and costlessly change employment. We simply call for the expansion to the top 100 universities. 

There are other ways it could be expanded (e.g. changing the methodology, expanding it to top business schools) but the key thing is expanding it in a way that ensures it targets more of the world’s best and brightest.

Third, and this is perhaps the most ambitious, we call for the introduction of the world’s first Global Talent Exam to actively recruit top talent. These should be open to anyone worldwide with the necessary language skills. Exams would assess applicants’ fundamental abilities like problem-solving, cognitive skills, and analytical thinking. High achievers on these exams would then be interviewed by designated ‘talent searchers,’ who would make the final decision on the candidates’ outcomes. This proactive approach would help identify and nurture talent, providing opportunities for them to succeed.

Politicians like to – perhaps even need to – “talk tough” on immigration, but we need to acknowledge that this comes at a cost. As our Research Director and co-author Eamonn Ives argues in CapX: 

“We should be championing these wealth creators – doing all we can to attract more of them, and enable the next generation of trailblazers to build the future within Britain’s shores. The jobs, taxes and national prestige we’d accrue as a result are the prizes on offer, and we should be unstinting in designing an immigration architecture that provides people from abroad with pathways to make the UK their home.”

You can also read about the report in UKTN and Startups Magazine.

Substack

We’ve officially launched on Substack today with two articles. In the first, I share my thoughts on why The Entrepreneurs Network exists and how you can get involved in our Substack as a co-author or interviewee, while in the second we delve into why immigration must be a core part of Britain’s Industrial Strategy.

Give us a follow to receive our Substack posts straight into your inbox.

Strategy games

In the first post of a new series on our recent research into Britain’s foreign-born founders, our Research Director Eamonn Ives argues that immigration reform must form part of the Government’s focus on industrial strategy.

Whether Fronts

The Department of Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT) wants help understanding how they can support innovation in businesses. To that end, they’ve asked us to share a survey that aims to measure levels of technology diffusion across British business and understand what barriers they face in adopting and selling these technologies.

On the topic of innovation, our newest member of the team Anastasia Bektimirova has a paper out today with her former outfit Onward on how the UK can build strategic advantage in frontier technologies.

There’s some great stuff in there about how governments tend to spread investments too thinly across multiple projects, rather than focusing on specific areas of existing or potential leadership, as well as ideas for how to remove barriers to innovation. For example, last year the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) assessed just 26% of clinical trial applications in 30 days, against a target of 98%. Read Meri Beckwith’s ‘Errors in Trials’ essay in our Operation Innovation collection for thoughts on how to fix that deadly failure.

The Government also often falls short of recognising opportunities and investing in critical infrastructure and facilities, with due seriousness and ambition to match our potential to capitalise on them. The report says the intersection of AI and engineering biology presents one such opportunity: biology research publications involving AI have grown by 50% year-on-year since 2018.

However, our research institutes, though excellent, are still struggling to match overseas leaders like the US-based Broad Institute in ambition, core facilities and resources; while a single corner in Massachusetts, the report argues, is beating Britain in biotech. Most recently, the Government’s decision to shelve £1.3 billion investment in compute which was supposed to power AI-driven research is another case in point. (Air Street Capital’s Alex Chalmers has a useful thread for anyone looking to get behind the headlines of this decision.)

One particularly refreshing thing in Allan Nixon’s and Anastasia’s report is their call for the new Government to stop trying to lead in areas where our allies are already leading. For example, our chances of catching up with advanced chip manufacturing leaders are very slim. Even with less advanced facilities, the UK has eight times fewer than Japan, six times fewer than Taiwan and the US, and less than half of Germany’s. Catching up would likely require a frontier company to establish a plant in the UK. Considering how much others are investing, it would require billions in public funding. The report suggests that chip design would be a better bet.

Future Frontiers suggests the new Government drops ‘f​uture telecoms’, which was one of the last Government’s five priority technologies. After all, UK business telecoms R&D investment over 12 years is half of Samsung’s annual R&D spend, with the US, China, South Korea, Japan and Germany already well ahead.

As Warren Buffet said of people, but which could equally apply to governments: “The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say 'no' to almost everything.”

Breaking the US

Anastasia is now deep in the research stage of our forthcoming Special Relationship project report – looking at what’s stopping more UK businesses expanding into the US. Thanks to all the entrepreneurs and experts who have already talked to her. Drop her an email if you’re keen to share your insights.

A Thousand Flowers

On the back of my article in defence of Entrepreneurs’ Relief (well, Business Asset Disposal Relief), a journalist from a reputable publication has got in touch to see if any entrepreneurs in the network would like to talk with her about the tax breaks.

Perhaps you’ve benefited from Entrepreneurs’ Relief in the past and gone on to start and invest in more companies. Or maybe it helped convince you to start your business in the UK. If you’re happy to go on-the-record with your thoughts, drop me a message and I’ll make the intro.