As I plan for the next phase of my life and my long-planned return to India, I believe that now is a perfect time to reflect on my own business journey in the UK and how that might help us all better understand migration.

It is now two years since The Entrepreneurs Network launched the Job Creators report, which championed the huge contribution made by immigrant entrepreneurs to the UK.

I was delighted when the Chancellor quoted the report in the Autumn Budget last year. It is also satisfying to know that the report's recommendations have been adopted by the government. Since its publication, the Tier 1 Post-Study Work Visa has been reformed and now allows international students to work in the UK for up to two years after they graduate. This is a testament to the quality of the data in the report.

But, while the data and research in this TEN report have made an incredibly important contribution to the narrative in the policy discussion, it is the case studies from the report that have really stuck with me. People like Timo Boldt, founder of recipe box company Gousto; Christian Nentwich, founder of data engineering tech firm Duco; and Miguel Martinez, who, alongside three others, helped to grow Signal AI from a garage in London.

The last two years have helped me appreciate better than ever that migrant entrepreneurs need to do more to stand up, speak out, and tell their stories in bold ways. I genuinely believe that these stories stick with people and stay with them for years and decades into the future.

In my case, ever since I arrived in the UK – way back in the 1970s during the destructive rule of Idi Amin in Uganda – I knew that I would eventually return to my homeland of India.

In fact, I remember that my father first applied for sanctuary in India when we were expelled from Uganda in 1972, but they sadly did not reply to us quickly enough. We were forced to pack up and leave the country with just the clothes on our backs.

I am eternally grateful for the opportunity that the UK extended to me – and the huge role it has had in my personal success. I owe a debt to this country, its people, and its openness to innovation and new ideas. I say this only because my family and I never saw the UK as our final destination – but as an important sanctuary in our moment of extreme need.

Ever since that first day when we arrived in the country, shocked by the cold and wet weather, I have had a deep urge to give back to a country that has given me so much. While I certainly wanted to prove to my friends and family that a proud Indian could prosper in the UK while staying true to their culture, I also saw it as my duty to repay our debt to the country for providing us with a lifeline.

Now, looking back, I hope I have done that not only once, like I first expected, but twice. I founded Euro Car Parts, of course, which today I’m proud to say employs more than 10,000 employees. But, more than that, after I sold Euro Car Parts and waited to complete my earn-out, I stayed in the UK rather than return immediately to India to found a new business, Dominvs Group, a real estate developer that is now firmly and expertly in the hands of my sons.

So, looking back on the report and its impact over the last few years, what’s my takeaway? On the one hand, it’s the important role that high-quality evidence-driven research can play in policymaking in Westminster.

But, on the other hand, it has also focussed my mind on the importance of migrant entrepreneurs telling their own stories in their own words.

It is difficult to imagine anything better to change the public opinion on migration – and more migrant entrepreneurs need to stand up, be counted, and make their voices heard.

Sukhpal Singh Ahluwalia
Non-Executive Chairman, Dominvs Group
Founder of the Ahluwalia Family Foundation