Migrant entrepreneurs behind one in seven UK businesses

Migrant entrepreneurs are behind one in seven UK companies, with 456,073 migrants said to have launched a small or medium-sized business in Britain, according to a report launched today.

Published by due diligence platform DueDil and think tank the Centre for Entrepreneurs using figures from Companies House, the Migrant entrepreneurs: Building our businesses, creating our jobs report suggests migrant-founded companies are responsible for creating 14% of all UK jobs, 1.16m in total, with Irish, Indian, German, American, and Chinese the most entrepreneurial nationalities.

Labelled ‘migrEnts’, entrepreneurial activity amongst non-UK nationals was found to be “double the amount” of British-born individuals, with 17% percent of ‘migrEnts’ having launched their own business in comparison to 10.4% of those born here.

In addition, the findings also point to migrant business owners being, on average, eight years younger than their British counterparts; 44 years old compared to 52 years old.

The report forms part of DueDil’s goal to explore the “neglected aspect” of immigration -the contribution of migrant entrepreneurs to the UK economy, following recent stats from YouGov which found that 50% of the British public support the government’s efforts to attract new migrant entrepreneurs.

DueDil founder and CEO, Damian Kimmelman, an American “serial migrant entrepreneur”, said: “Immigration is one of Britain’s most emotive topics for debate. Sadly, opinions are rarely informed by evidence.

“This game-changing research proves that migrant entrepreneurs are hyper-productive, net contributors to the UK economy. History tells us that the most productive states always encourage intellectual and technological ferment; that’s what we’re seeing in Britain right now, and we must celebrate it.”

Luke Johnson, chairman of the Centre for Entrepreneurs, continued:

“The majority of the public appreciate the value of migrant entrepreneurs, yet our politicians and media send out negative signals that risk alienating this vital group of job creators.

“Given the huge contribution of migrant entrepreneurs, we are calling upon the media and politicians to join us in celebrating those who come to our country and launch businesses.”

You can download the full report here.