Britain's founders built their businesses here. The tax system is telling them to leave.
Britain's entrepreneurs create jobs, drive innovation and fuel economic growth. Yet a steady creep of tax rises and reductions in entrepreneurial reliefs is making it harder to build and scale a business in the UK.
Stop The Creep is a campaign calling on the Chancellor to reverse this trend and make Britain the most attractive place in the world for founders and business builders.
Read the open letter below and add your name to join the growing coalition of founders, business leaders and parliamentarians calling for a more pro-growth Britain.
Sir,
Britain's founders spend years taking risks, working all hours, forgoing salaries and creating jobs in the hope of one day creating a company that can pay for their retirement.
The odds are stacked against them.
Only four out of every 10 businesses in the UK sees their fifth birthday. And while most business owners dream of one day selling their business and retiring on the proceeds vanishingly few ever do.
There are five million registered companies in the UK, yet just 1,400 sold for more than £1m in 2024 according to the Office for National Statistics.
Yet the reward for the years of sacrifice for those few who make it to a big ticket sale is a tax bill that has nearly doubled in the last two years.
Rachel Reeves told people she wanted to make the United Kingdom the most attractive place in the world for founders to start and scale a business. Yet the relentless creep of taxes on founders suggests otherwise. Employers National Insurance and Capital Gains Tax on dividends are up, Business Asset Disposal Relief, Business Property Relief and Agricultural Property Relief are all down. It is death by a thousand cuts.
And while Britain tightens the screws on its wealth creators, competing nations are rolling out the red carpet. The United States offers zero tax on the first $10 million of a company sale. Cyprus, Portugal, the UAE and Singapore are all wooing Britain's founders with low-tax regimes and pro-growth regulations.
The Government's own advisers warned Britain risks becoming an incubator economy, world-class at creating businesses, unable to keep them.
However all is not lost. We believe Britain remains one of the most entrepreneurial and dynamic countries on Earth. Act now, and the Government can still keep its promise, and its scale-up founders. Fail, and Britain will continue training entrepreneurs for export.
This is why today we’re launching the Stop The Creep campaign calling on the Chancellor to stop the corrosive tax rises on Britain’s businesses.
Signed:
Andreas Adamides, CEO, Helm
Signatories
Andreas Adamides - CEO - Helm Luke Johnson - Chairman - Gail's Bakery Andrew Griffith MP - Shadow Secretary of State for Business & TradeConservatives Priti Patel MP - Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development AffairsConservatives Marcel Khan - CEO - Franco Manca & The Real Greek Johnnie Boden - Founder - Boden Hussein Kanji - Founding Partner - Hoxton Ventures Duncan Cheatle - Founder - Helm Club Alex Fenton - Partner - Funding Bay Limited Christian Faes - Co-Founder - LendInvest John Higginson - Founder - Higginson Strategy Desmond Swayne MP - Conservative Rt Hon Esther McVey MP - Conservative Jack Rankin MP - Conservative Robert Colvile - Director - Centre for Policy Studies Kevin Hollinrake MP - Shadow Minister without Portfolio (Conservative Party Chair) - Conservative Rt Hon Sir Julian Smith KCB CBE - Conservative Chris Philp MP - Shadow Home Secretary - Conservatives Mark Slack - Co-Founder - CMR Surgical Nick Timothy MP - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice - Conservatives Sir Andrew Mitchell MP - Conservatives Lord Bridges of Headley MBE - Conservatives Dame Caroline Denienage MP - Conservatives Gregory Stafford MP - Conservatives Jerome Mayhew MP - Conservatives Charlie Dewhirst MP - Conservatives Nigel Huddleston MP - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport - Conservatives Rebecca Smith MP - Conservatives Harriet Cross MP - Conservatives Dominic McGregor - Founder - Fearless Adventures Thomas Lock - Founder & Managing Director - The British Snack Co. Andrea Reynolds - Co-Founder & CEO - Swoop Funding Ed Leon Klinger - Co-Founder & CEO - Flock Antton Peña - Co-Founder & Chief Commercial Officer - Flock Teddie Levenfiche - Co-Founder - PerfectTed David Reed MP - Conservatives Ben Obese-Jecty MP - Conservatives Paul Taylor Co-Founder & CEO - Thought Machine Barney Hussey-Yeo - Founder & CEO - Cleo AI Martin Wolstencroft - Chief Executive Officer- ARC Inspirations Nick Broom - CEO - PVL UK Mauricio Palacios-Serna - Managing Director - Serna FM Gamze Priest - Founder & CEO - Software Works For You James Allam - CEO - Amthal Group Limited Chris Wheatcroft - Director - Prosper and Enterprise Ltd Alan Jones - Founder & CEO - YEO Messaging Nick Gill - Co-Founder & CEO - The Global Living Company David Gormer - Founder - Ignition Accounting Limited Mark Colquhoun - Founder - Beyond Exit Stephen Hickey - CEO - Digital Control Room Derek Bishop - Co-Founder & Director - Culture Consultancy Gareth Broekmann - Managing Director - Charles Square Jordan Schlipf - CEO - Cowshed David Sherwood - Co-Founder & CEO - BibliU Andrew Schofield - Founder & CEO - Finelight Group Eugene Gallagher - Managing Director - Cobbles Lee Wheelan - CEO - Acuity Solutions Julien Slade - Director - Brookton Adrian Lomas - CEO - Elevate Leadership Andrew Hookway - Managing Director - Extech Cloud Michael Llewellyn - Director - LSC Properties Christopher Monery - Director - CN Foods Mark Mccormack - Co-CEO - Talking Tables Claudia Dreier-Poepperl - Chairman of the Board - Appvestor Ali Aydan - Founder & CEO - Dorix Stephen Goknel - Founder & Managing Director - Mello Sleep Rob Hamilton - Director - The Hyde Ventures Sean Lambert - Proprietor - Minerva Supported Living Freddie Archdale - Founder Success Manager - Helm Ben Barbanel - Chief Lending Officer - OakNorth Andrew Griffith MP - Shadow Secretary of State for Business & TradeConservatives Alex Fenton - Partner - Funding Bay Limited Christian Faes - Co-Founder - LendInvest Desmond Swayne MP - Conservative Rt Hon Esther McVey MP - Conservative Jack Rankin MP - Conservative Robert Colvile - Director - Centre for Policy Studies Kevin Hollinrake MP - Shadow Minister without Portfolio (Conservative Party Chair) - Conservative Rt Hon Sir Julian Smith KCB CBE - Conservative Chris Philp MP - Shadow Home Secretary - Conservatives Mark Slack - Co-Founder - CMR Surgical Nick Timothy MP - Shadow Secretary of State for Justice - Conservatives Sir Andrew Mitchell MP - Conservatives Lord Bridges of Headley MBE - Conservatives Dame Caroline Denienage MP - Conservatives Gregory Stafford MP - Conservatives Jerome Mayhew MP - Conservatives Charlie Dewhirst MP - Conservatives Nigel Huddleston MP - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport - Conservatives Rebecca Smith MP - Conservatives Harriet Cross MP - Conservatives Dominic McGregor - Founder - Fearless Adventures Thomas Lock - Founder & Managing Director - The British Snack Co. Andrea Reynolds - Co-Founder & CEO - Swoop Funding Ed Leon Klinger - Co-Founder & CEO - Flock Antton Peña - Co-Founder & Chief Commercial Officer - Flock Teddie Levenfiche - Co-Founder - PerfectTed David Reed MP - Conservatives Ben Obese-Jecty MP - Conservatives Paul Taylor Co-Founder & CEO - Thought Machine Barney Hussey-Yeo - Founder & CEO - Cleo AI Martin Wolstencroft - Chief Executive Officer- ARC Inspirations Nick Broom - CEO - PVL UK Mauricio Palacios-Serna - Managing Director - Serna FM Gamze Priest - Founder & CEO - Software Works For You James Allam - CEO - Amthal Group Limited Chris Wheatcroft - Director - Prosper and Enterprise Alan Jones - Founder & CEO - YEO Messaging Nick Gill - Co-Founder & CEO - The Global Living Company David Gormer - Founder - Ignition Accounting Limited Mark Colquhoun - Founder - Beyond Exit Stephen Hickey - CEO - Digital Control Room Derek Bishop - Co-Founder & Director - Culture Consultancy Gareth Broekmann - Managing Director - Charles Square Jordan Schlipf - CEO - Cowshed David Sherwood - Co-Founder & CEO - BibliU Andrew Schofield - Founder & CEO - Finelight Group Eugene Gallagher - Managing Director - Cobbles Lee Wheelan - CEO - Acuity Solutions Julien Slade - Director - Brookton Adrian Lomas - CEO - Elevate Leadership Andrew Hookway - Managing Director - Extech Cloud Michael Llewellyn - Director - LSC Properties Christopher Monery - Director - CN Foods Mark Mccormack - Co-CEO - Talking Tables Claudia Dreier-Poepperl - Chairman of the Board - Appvestor Ali Aydan - Founder & CEO - Dorix Stephen Goknel - Founder & Managing Director - Mello Sleep Rob Hamilton - Director - The Hyde Ventures Sean Lambert - Proprietor - Minerva Supported Living Steve Hickey - Founder - Digital Control Room Cat Kevern - MD - Electric Cat David Johnson - D/Gauge Ltd Duncan Cheatle - Founder - Helm Club Jamie Hamer - Founder - Loxa Tom Carroll - Founder - OhSo Technical Sheyi Lisk-Carew - Founder - Oclas Group Sila Demirok - Founder - Iron Arrow Consulting Jill Tipping - Founder - Pavelka Limited Alan Carter - Founder - Life People Business Sanjith Mukund - Founder - JrnyOn Limited John Stapleton - Founder - The Stapleton Academy Edward Goodchild - Founder - Zendht Venture Studio Andrew Fishwick - CEO - Hestia Jennifer Dunman - Daisy First Aid Thomas Martin - Founder - Content Rocket Nigar Huseynzade - SIAR Neil Cameron - Founder - Sport Works James Townsend - Founder - Kontor Sarj Radia - Founder - CarePoint365 Nick Broom - Founder - PVL uk Marcus Cronan - FounderAI Tappers Anthony Barone - Founder - StudioHawk Lisa Cluer - Founder - Inside Out Contracts Andrew Hookway - Founder - Extech Cloud Kieron Garlic - Founder - Present Communications Derek Bishop - Founder - Culture Consultancy Julien Slade - Founder - Brookton Gareth Broekmann - Founder - Charles Square
