Tom Ball
3.7K posts
Tom Ball
@tomball2
Founder of DeskLodge. Bristol B-Corp. Sunday Times top 10 Best places to work. Lover of life.
It's not just millionaires who are abandoning Britain, it's bright & capable young people too. An interesting study from Public First estimates that already 165k British citizens live & work abroad as digital nomads and that many more are set to join them. 1/3
We are putting more money in your pocket. From April, millions of working people will get a pay rise.
I’m deeply concerned that the UK will continue to stagnate without creating the conditions for high-growth companies to scale here. Everyone paying attention understands the doom loop of Austerity, the self-inflicted misstep of Brexit and the deep political uncertainty that’s hammered the economy. My argument is that the deeper problem is that our economy comprises companies from dying industries with low or negative growth. These companies don’t create more jobs, produce more taxes, or drive productivity. In contrast, the US economy is led by high-growth tech companies. They’ve created over 100 tech giants with market caps exceeding $10 billion, over twenty surpassing $100 billion, and five reaching $1 trillion. This is why America is growing and thriving. This is why our best and brightest move to America. This is why America will continue to dominate for decades to come. How many >$10b high-growth companies are in the UK? I’ll wait… So why can’t the UK (or EU) scale meaningful tech companies? Why do they sell out early or fail to scale? - Deeper late-stage capital markets in the US: Investors are less risk-averse, pension funds actively invest in venture, and there is a broad understanding of high-growth business models. In the UK, raising growth capital often means moving to the US. - Our public markets aren't fit for purpose: US public markets are built to reward and sustain fast-growing firms; they are "risk-on." - Effective checks and balances: Even when problematic regulators or politicians emerge, the federal, state, and legal systems in the US safeguard the country’s long-term economic interests. If you boil it down, it comes down to one major thing: the UK's culture of being risk-averse and unambitious. This can change; it comes from the top, from our Prime minister, and is enacted by his ministers. I know the HMT analysis will have concluded that raising CGT is optimal at a certain level and that scrapping entrepreneurs' relief is good as fraudsters use it. The analysis won’t have shown that it will drive more founders, especially those with $100b+ potential, to move to the US who were already considering it. It makes the UK less competitive when it desperately needs to be competitive. My simple ask for consideration: - Bring back entrepreneurs’ relief with conditions on who is eligible. Stop the fraud. - Review late-stage capital markets, get pension funds investing. - Reform public markets so they value high-growth companies. - Structural reform of our regulators: we need checks & balances. Most importantly, be ambitious and take a real shot at creating and scaling $100b+ high-growth companies. It’s the most important thing we can do to grow our economy and change the lives of the British people. @UKLabour @Keir_Starmer @RachelReevesMP @peterkyle telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/…
