Immigrant Entrepreneurs
Immigrant entrepreneurs are creating tens of thousands of new jobs in the UK a new survey from Procorre has revealed.
Their survey looked at the nationalities of directors of small companies.
Top ten countries of origin: directors of small UK companies.
Country of origin – Number of directors of small companies in UK
India 16,272
Pakistan 9,903
Germany 7,770
Italy 7,624
Romania 7,490
China 7,439
Nigeria 7,199
France 6,845
Australia 5,513
Bulgaria 4,649
Entrepreneur Visa
According to Procorre, the Government has taken several steps to encourage immigrant entrepreneurs to come here and create jobs. There’s the Entrepreneur Visa which allows people to come from overseas to establish a British business and to get a fast track to British citizenship.
Wiktor Podgorski at Procorre comments: ‘The UK provides a favourable environment for start-ups and this is reflected in the high number of immigrant entrepreneurs who have chosen to set up here.’
‘Immigrant entrepreneurs can benefit from the UK‘s flexible legal framework and favourable tax system. They also gain access to a high quality talent pool, a strong local market and valuable opportunities for trade with the EU.’
He adds: ‘Whilst some of these entrepreneurs will have already been resident in the UK, many will have come from overseas solely to take advantage of the unique prospects that the UK offers.’
Successful UK Start-Ups
Procorre points out that immigrant entrepreneurs have been behind a number of highly successful UK start-ups, including
· Cobra Beer, founded by Indian-born Lord Bilimoria
· e-bookers.com, the online travel agency founded by Dinesh Dhamija, the son of an Indian diplomat, born in Australia
· Euro Car Parts, set up by Ugandan-born Sukhpal Singh Ahluwalia, which was sold in 2011 for £225m
· Made.com – online furniture retailer co-founded by Chinese born entrepreneur Ning Li
Links to High Growth Economies
Immigrant entrepreneurs provide the UK with valuable links to high growth economies. Many of these immigrant UK entrepreneurs will export to those countries from whence they came.
Procorre explains that the UK‘s high proportion of immigrant entrepreneurs can help the UK to develop strong links with crucial high growth markets from overseas by providing valuable connections to their home economies.
The global average economic growth is 2.6%. That in the EU is much less.
However, growth in India is 5.6%, in China 7.4% and in Nigeria 7.4%.
Wiktor Podgorski said, ‘Foreign entrepreneurs‘ contacts with their home country could open up valuable opportunities for trade and growth. With such a high proportion of directors of small UK companies born in India, the chance for Britain to establish closer connections with one of the world‘s fastest growing economies gives us a major advantage.’
