UK is a good place for starting a business

Over 75 per cent of business leaders worldwide believe that the UK is a good location to start a business, despite the vote to leave the EU, according to research from Barclays.

The research surveyed 1,350 business leaders worldwide, questioning them on their perceptions of British entrepreneurs and their experiences of doing business with scale-up businesses in the UK.

Optimistic

The study revealed that business leaders in other countries believe that Britain has the potential to create a successful business such as Google or Apple, with business leaders in Brazil, the US and China being the most optimistic at 88 per cent, 85 per cent and 84 per cent respectively.

Nearly 80 per cent of international business leaders believe that the start-up scene in the UK is an “important global growth business hub for entrepreneurs”, whilst 82 per cent said that they would contemplate investing in a start-up company from the UK.

Over 60 per cent of respondents believe that Brexit will not have an impact on the way that they do business with the UK’s entrepreneurs, whilst 60 per cent said that Britain leaving the EU will help to improve their trade dealings with companies from the UK.

Critical

Barclays Head of High Growth and Entrepreneurs, Richard Heggie, stated: “This shows UK entrepreneurs are held in high regard by business leaders globally, particularly in Brazil, China and the US. However it's critical that, against the backdrop of Brexit, the UK does everything it can to maintain and crucially build on this. That includes capitalising on the trade relationships and investment opportunities that the research highlights in order to thrive.”