Are we Witnessing a Rise in Migrant Entrepreneurs?

UK Business secretary Vince Cable has recently come out in praise of a wave of migrant entrepreneurs, who are currently impacting heavily on Britain’s technology entrepreneur community...

“They make a hugely significant contribution to the UK economy,” claims Cable. “The Government is committed to fostering this talent and making the UK the place for their businesses to succeed.”

But how much of the UK’s entrepreneurial output is actually made up from migrant entrepreneurs? According to research from the Centre for Entrepreneurs, migrants are now behind one in seven UK companies and value in terms of job creation is steadily rising.

Key findings from the research discovered:

• Migrant entrepreneurs are behind the creation of one in seven UK companies
• They are twice as entrepreneurial as British-born working age population
• They are on average younger than British entrepreneurs
• Irish, Indian, German, American and Chinese top performing nationalities
• 44 percent of the general public believe migrant entrepreneurs make a positive contribution to the UK

Nearly half a million people from 155 counties have settled in the UK and launched a business, among the SME community migrant-founded companies are responsible for 14 percent of all jobs. Entrepreneurial activity amongst the migrant community was found to be nearly double that of UK-born individuals, with 17.2 per cent having launched their own businesses, compared to 10.4 per cent of those born here. They are also, on average, eight years younger than indigenous entrepreneurs at 44.3 years-old compared to 52.1.

“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 creator,” explains Centre for Entrepreneurs chairman Luke Johnson. “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.”

The UK’s migrant entrepreneurs are from virtually every country, although there are significant representations from Ireland, India, the US, Germany and China. London benefits disproportionately, with 20 times the number of migrant-led businesses (188,000) than Birmingham, the second most popular location with 19,000.