Glenn Baker
Business Development Director, Raymond James
Glenn works with entrepreneurs and business owners at various stages of their journey, and with charities, trusts and foundations, as well as with clients across the spectrum of private client practice, providing holistic wealth management solutions, underpinned by a personal approach to service, at Raymond James.
He was previously a director at Charles Stanley (2018-2026), a director at Kleinwort Benson (2012-2017) and a director at Schroders Cazenove (2008-2012). Glenn sits on the Raymond James Responsible Investment Committee, sits on the Wealth Advisor Committee for Legacy Giving at Remember a Charity and is a board member on the Action for Animal Health Development Board for the international charity The Brooke. Glenn is also the Branch Administrator for the City of London cohort of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP).
He holds a BA in English Studies (First Class), an MA in Reading Postmodernity (Distinction) and a PhD in English Literature specialising in Renaissance Europe from the University of Leicester, and he speaks at seminars, conferences, symposiums and across various media on the increasingly interdisciplinary connectivity of ethics, morality, wealth, philanthropy, law, culture and society in the West and in the Middle East.
Why is the UK an attractive place to start and grow a business?
The UK remains one of the world’s most attractive locations to start and scale a business because it combines a stable legal system, access to capital, a highly skilled workforce, international connectivity, and a supportive entrepreneurial ecosystem. There are strong startup environments across London, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Cambridge, Edinburgh and other regional hubs, aided by the ease of setting up and operating a company, a deep pool of venture capital, private equity, angel investors and institutional funding, and a very strong talent pool in the UK across technology, financial services, life sciences, professional services, engineering and creative industries.
It’s worth also noting that the UK sits between North American and Asian trading hours, making it an ideal headquarters location for international businesses, and many international clients and investors view a UK company as operating within a respected commercial and legal framework. It would be remiss not to also note that founders should consider the relatively high employment costs in the UK, complex employment and tax obligations once staff are hired, higher commercial property costs, particularly in London, and increasing competition for specialist talent in technology and financial services.
Nevertheless, overall the UK’s greatest strength is not any single factor but the combination of trusted institutions, access to talent and capital, and a business ecosystem that supports companies from startup through to global scale. Founders find this deeply attractive.