Business Leaders Call for Bold Tax Reform and Pro-Growth Policies at Central London Forum
Hundreds of senior business leaders, policymakers, and innovators gathered last month at The Emmanuel Centre in Westminster for London – Opportunities and Obstacles for Growth, a major public forum hosted by Central London Alliance CIC.
The event featured six high-level panel discussions exploring critical issues shaping the capital’s future, including London’s economy, property and infrastructure, retail and entertainment, and entrepreneurship.
A highlight of the evening was Panel Four, Entrepreneurship, Wealth and Tax, which focused on the intersection of entrepreneurship, taxation, and wealth creation. Chaired by Christian May, Editor-in-Chief of CityAM, the panel featured Dia Chakravarty, Contributing Editor at The Daily Telegraph; Tom Moore, CEO of WBR Group; Peter Dunphy, Regional Director of The Family Business Community; and Rob Agnew, Partner at Isio Group Limited.
The discussion delivered a frank assessment of the UK’s current tax environment and its impact on innovation, investment, and economic growth. A central theme was the growing disconnect between government policy and economic reality.
“Everybody that I speak to, every business that I speak to, every industry that I speak to, it seems very much the picture that taxes are far too high and that is holding us back,” said Dia Chakravarty, emphasising the widespread frustration across the business community.
Tom Moore of WBR Group observed that there is a lack of strategic thinking when it comes to tax policy. He acknowledged the pressures faced by policymakers, saying, “there are some real challenges for anyone in office at the moment, in terms of demand for public services and trying to meet those with taxation in a way that doesn’t disincentivise the kind of things that we need to drive growth.” Moore also cautioned that tax rises alone would be insufficient to address the national debt without corresponding efforts to control public spending.
The panel expressed concern over the UK’s increasingly uncompetitive tax regime. Rob Agnew highlighted a significant rise in high-net-worth individuals relocating overseas, citing intermediary feedback from tax and legal advisers that around 50 – 65% of their clients have gone. Many, while maintaining strong ties to London, are opting for countries with more favourable healthcare, security and tax conditions, representing a long-term loss of investment and innovation.
Panellists also criticised recent changes to the non-domiciled tax regime, which they argued could cost the Treasury around £17 billion in lost revenue for a projected gain of only £4 billion. The policy was described as economically short-sighted and potentially damaging to the UK’s competitiveness.
Peter Dunphy from The Family Business Community added that “the government have increased all of the taxes that they think the general public has never heard of…and what we have ended up with are lesser-known, less public taxes that disproportionately attack entrepreneurs, businesses, enterprises – and that’s a systemic problem that we need to deal with.”
Tom Moore called for bold, incentive-led reforms to stimulate both domestic and foreign investment. Suggestions included allowing pension funds to invest in UK residential property an approach that could unlock capital for affordable housing, retain pension assets within the UK, and attract international investors.
Inheritance tax emerged as another major point of contention. The panel described it as one of the most unpopular and counterproductive taxes, arguing that it discourages long-term planning and entrepreneurship. Reducing the tax, they suggested, could help drive wealth creation and strengthen economic resilience. Increasing inheritance taxes or reducing reliefs, including business property treasury relief (BPTR), would have the reverse effect; diminish investment, prompt reductions in scale, force sales of businesses, damage long term ambition and hurt economic wellness. Examples were cited where the threat of the removal of BPTR had already stimulated UK property-based businesses to sell assets and all of the sales had been to private equity or global concerns who did not need to consider inheritance tax. This flight of good business, grown in the UK, to overseas entities was a direct result of proposed inheritance tax changes and is achieving the opposite of intended tax benefits to the Treasury and the UK’s economic wellbeing.
The discussion concluded with concern about the limited level of practical business understanding within policymaking circles. Panellists agreed that greater representation of individuals with real-world business experience is needed in government to ensure policy decisions reflect economic realities.
As the UK seeks to navigate economic uncertainty and chart a path toward sustainable growth, the forum’s message was clear: policymakers must prioritise pragmatism over ideology and embrace reforms that empower entrepreneurs, reward risk-taking, and retain wealth within the UK economy.