![\"Richard](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Richard-Branson-e1785923216224.jpg\")
\t\tRichard Branson in 1986 (Photo by Colin Davey\/Express\/Getty Images)\t<\/p>\n\t\t\tWednesday 05 August 2026 10:47 am
\n\t\t\t\t\t\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Updated:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\tWednesday 05 August 2026 10:58 am\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\tRichard Branson in 1986 (Photo by Colin Davey\/Express\/Getty Images)\t<\/p>\n
Richard Branson continues to be the best champion the UK has as a place to do business despite founding his first business decades ago. Branson is a global success, but he should have a successor by now, says Philip Salter<\/p>\n
A few months after England lifted the 1966 World Cup, Sir Richard Branson started working on his first successful business, a magazine called Student that he launched two years later.<\/p>\n
When we asked our network of founders<\/a>, in partnership with Public First, which entrepreneur best champions the UK as a place to do business, Sir Richard came top. Of course, Virgin\u2019s founder is a genuine global success story, but I suspect even he might have expected \u2014 indeed wanted \u2014 a successor by now.<\/p>\n After all, Hurun\u2019s 2026 index finds a record 80 UK unicorns worth a combined \u00a3242.4bn, putting the UK third globally behind only the United States and China. There\u2019s no shortage of candidates: Synthesia\u2019s Victor Riparbelli, Darktrace co-founder Poppy Gustafsson and James Dacombe, whose two-year-old AI chip firm Olix was valued at \u00a32.5bn this week.<\/p>\n There are two ways to view this. You can argue we all need to tell a better story about our successes and place in the world. Or accept that something\u2019s still missing \u2014 that we need to fix the fundamentals. Our survey suggests the new government must do both.<\/p>\n Despite most believing it a good place to start a business, 70 per cent of founders said the UK presents itself ineffectively. So what shapes that judgement? According to some of Britain\u2019s most ambitious entrepreneurs, in third place come cultural factors like language and lifestyle; in second, the pull of investor networks; but top of the list sits the cold truth for any government \u2014 founders judge a country first on its tax rates.<\/p>\n Presented with a range of options, founders would sell the UK on two things above all: its Enterprise Investment Schemes, which offer a tax break for investors, and its position as Europe\u2019s largest venture capital market (cited by 49 and 42 per cent respectively). The prosaic is pivotal.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n \t\t\tWill Drastic Dave live up to his name at Diageo?<\/a><\/p>\n We also drilled down into the views of London\u2019s founders. The single biggest reason they\u2019re there is the ecosystem \u2014 48 per cent cite the capital\u2019s established industry network, not, as is often assumed, access to capital. And once established, they see the city as a clear net positive: a London base makes fundraising easier for 63 per cent, against just eight per cent who say it\u2019s harder, and helps with credibility, partnerships, media relations and government access. Hiring is the one weak spot, with a significant minority saying it can be harder in London.<\/p>\n The cost of London<\/p>\n However, London\u2019s drawbacks are almost entirely about cost. More than four in five founders (83 per cent) name the cost of living \u2014 rent, commuting, daily expenses \u2014 as a top downside, with high operating overheads such as office space and salaries close behind (73 per cent). Critically, over half of London-based founders have considered moving their company out of the capital in the past 12 months<\/a>, and over a quarter have seriously considered it or actively planned to do so. Movement the other way is far weaker, as just 28 per cent of founders outside London have considered moving in.<\/p>\n Asked which cities come closest to rivalling London for their kind of business, founders looked west. San Francisco and New York were named far more often than anywhere else \u2014 48 per cent and 44 per cent of those who named a rival \u2014 with Singapore (21 per cent) and Dubai (14 per cent) next, and Austin and Lisbon close behind (11 per cent each). European hubs like Berlin, Amsterdam and Paris trail well behind, suggesting founders see London\u2019s competition as transatlantic and global rather than continental.<\/p>\n If they do leave, the same US cities top the list. Closer to home, the new Prime Minister \u2014 fresh from a decade of running Greater Manchester \u2014 may be pleased that Manchester is the leading domestic alternative, ahead of Cambridge.<\/p>\n Nearly 60 years on from Student, Britain has no shortage of billion-pound company founders. What it needs from the new government is not just to celebrate them, but to give them reasons to stay.<\/p>\n Philip Salter if founder of The Entrepreneurs Network<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n