RACHEL Reeves has been warned that one in five of the UK’s fastest growing companies could quit the country within three years, a new report says.
The Chancellor is put on notice by firms just two weeks before the Budget over fears they will move abroad without action from the government.
Ms Reeves is under pressure as she needs to fill a financial black of around £30 billion om November 26.
The study reveals that infrastructure shortcomings, red tape and filling the skills gap are driving “an exodus” from the country and “derailing” the growth mission.
Entrepreneurs have told Ministers to create an “environment to match our ambition” as they look to invest and employ more people.
The wake-up call comes in the new Growth Signals report from Virgin Media 02 who surveyed more than 2,000 firms including those at the forefront of artificial intelligence and technology.
It comes after £100 billion left London’s capital markets last year alone, the analysis reveals.
The report reveals that one in five of the fastest growing companies demand a set of measures to keep them here or they will leave by 2028.
This is despite nearly two-thirds of start-ups, some 64 per cent, having plans to boost investment and 85 per cent actually want to stay in the country.
But start-up firms are being held back with 58 per cent pointing to regulatory burdens, 54 per cent say political uncertainty and 52 per cent call for better access to funds.
It a bitter blow, 68 per cent of those surveyed say the US is a better place to grow a business.
Lutz Schüler, CEO of Virgin Media O2, said: “Bold and innovative businesses are created here in Britain because it cultivates home-grown talent with the ambition to match.
“But too many of the fastest growing companies can’t see a route to scale in the UK and are now looking to prosper abroad.
“With the country at an inflexion point, the time to act is now.
“We need agile regulation, patient capital, a strong talent pipeline, and long-term policy stability to unlock growth for the long term.”
“With an AI powered economic revolution already underway, the question is now whether Britain leads or follows.
“Decline is not inevitable. This is a country that can maintain its place on the world economic stage and win if it fixes the frictions founders face every day.”
