Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin says government ‘unfriendly to entrepreneurs’ amid wealth exodus concerns

Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin said Labour is "unfriendly" to the ultra-rich Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin has said he is “very concerned” ’s “unfriendly” attitude towards entrepreneurs.  The pub tycoon said it is “madness” to blame the number of ultra-rich businesspeople leaving the country on anything other than the business conditions created .  Fears over an exodus of wealthy founders were renewed earlier this week when hedge fund billionaire Chris Rokos became the latest to announce his departure.  Rokos is the founder of namesake investment firm Rokos Capital Management. His exit, first reported by Bloomberg, is likely to cost the government hundreds of millions of pounds in lost tax revenue every year.  In an interview with City AM, Martin said: “I’m very concerned about people leaving the country. But my wife won’t let me go – that’s a joke,” he said.  “I’m too old. But I do think that if I was 21, and thinking of setting up a business, it might be different. I notice that quite a few young entrepreneurs have set up businesses from Britain and are moving abroad,” he added. Martin said it is “important to note” that a number of the US’s biggest entrepreneurs were born outside of the country, listing Nvidia boss Jensen Huang, Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Tesla chief executive Elon Musk. “I think the UK has to try and attract talent from around the world. […] The government [has] set its stall out, and it’s unfriendly to many entrepreneurs and businesses – from abroad and from this country – and they are leaving,” he said. The country’s exodus of wealthy businesspeople has been blamed on rumours surrounding taxes on wealth and the Labour government’s decision to end the non-dom regime.  The tax loophole had allowed wealthy foreigners to avoid paying tax on income earned outside of the UK, but it was scrapped by then-Chancellor Rachel Reeves at last year’s October Budget. Critics of the government have also blamed its decisions to scrap the VAT exemption for private schools, increase capital gains tax rates and plot a new raid on mansions. .