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Marco Mesina warns that the exodus could worsen, while Jimmy Sexton says that even wealthy shoppers now avoid the UK market, including Brits. <\/p>\n
The UK has recorded a significant uptick in the number of company directors leaving the country following Labour\u2019s October 2024 decision to abolish the non-domiciled (non-dom) tax regime and implement other tax hikes targeting the wealthy. <\/p>\n
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This is according to data from Companies House, the official registrar of companies in the United Kingdom, which the Financial Times<\/a> recently analysed.<\/p>\n According to the analysis, 3,790 directors moved their official residence abroad between October 2024 and July 2025, a 40% increase from the 2,712 departures recorded during the same period the previous year.<\/p>\n In April 2025, director departures peaked at 691, representing a 79% increase from April 2024 and a 104% rise compared to April 2023.<\/p>\n The news comes after the UK lost nearly 11,000 millionaires<\/a> in 2024 due to non-dom changes.<\/p>\n UK Losing All Appeal<\/strong><\/p>\n The non-dom tax regime, which allowed UK residents with foreign permanent homes to avoid paying UK taxes on global income and assets, had long helped the UK attract wealthy foreigners. <\/p>\n Labour\u2019s decision to scrap the policy in October 2024, along with introducing measures such as higher capital gains tax, limits on inheritance tax relief for businesses, and increased duties on private equity bosses, has triggered mass dissatisfaction among high-net-worth individuals.<\/p>\n The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) estimates that the abolition of the non-dom regime will generate \u00a333.8 billion over five years, albeit acknowledging that this figure is \u201chighly uncertain\u201d as it depends on the behavior of a relatively small number of wealthy individuals.<\/p>\n Jimmy Sexton, Founder and CEO of Esquire Group, emphasized the negative impact of these changes, saying that \u201calmost every single one of his clients\u201d who were non-doms have left the UK.<\/p>\n He explained that wealthy individuals contributed greatly to the UK through remittance taxes and further stimulated the economy by spending big, generating sizable VAT revenue, which the UK has now lost.<\/p>\n Sexton added that the government \u201cmassively messed up\u201d for underestimating how much these individuals would \u201cprioritize tax efficiency\u201d over the UK\u2019s cultural and lifestyle appeal.<\/p>\n Marco Mesina<\/a>, Founder of Move to Dolce Vita, explained that many directors leaving the UK continue to operate businesses there but structure their activities in tax-efficient jurisdictions to reduce taxes on dividends and capital gains.<\/p>\n But he cautioned that it could still get worse, arguing many of these directors might eventually abandon UK business activity altogether should taxation policies continue to tighten.<\/p>\n Sexton also highlighted how other decisions, such as abolishing tax-free shopping for non-residents, have eroded the UK\u2019s ability to attract wealthy individuals even for shopping trips. He says that wealthy travelers will \u201cnow go to Paris or Geneva instead.\u201d<\/p>\n The UK Association of International Retail recently found<\/a> that even wealthy Brits are shopping more in the EU this year. <\/p>\n Biggest Winners<\/strong> of UK Directors\u2019 Exodus<\/strong><\/p>\n Wealthy directors are relocating to jurisdictions offering more favorable tax regimes. The FT analysis found that the UAE<\/a> is now the most popular destination. It says Dubai in particular is attracting a large number of small-and medium-sized business directors.<\/p>\n The UAE\u2019s lack of individual income and capital gains taxes makes it an appealing choice. Spain and the US rank as the second and third most common destinations, respectively.<\/p>\n The government has framed the reforms as a step toward modernizing the tax system and ensuring fairness, but Sexton warned of further consequences if the government proceeds with discussions around a potential wealth tax<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cIf that passes, you will see an even bigger exodus of the wealthy from the UK,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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