London: Indians are among the most enterprising of Britain's migrant communities, a new data analysis report here has found. As many as 456,073 migrants have launched a small or medium-sized business in Britain, according to the think-tank Centre for Entrepreneurs and due diligence platform DueDil. The report titled 'Migrant Entrepreneurs: Building Our Businesses, Creating Our Jobs', found that migrant entrepreneurs are behind one in seven of all UK companies and that Irish, Indian, German, American and Chinese make up the top performing nationalities.
Ireland leads the charge with 48,854 founders running their own businesses across the UK, followed by India with 32,593 and Germany with 30,755. Around half a million people from 155 countries have launched businesses in the UK and these migrant-founded companies are responsible for creating 14 per cent of all jobs, it said. "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," said Luke Johnson, Centre for Entrepreneurs chairman and serial entrepreneur.
"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," he added. The report coincides with a BBC revelation that the UK government held back a politically sensitive migrant impact report, that suggested the impact of extra migrants on the country's workforce is weaker than what government has claimed. According to the "Migrant Entrepreneurs" report, the entrepreneurial activity among 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 in Britain.
They are also, on an average, eight years younger than indigenous entrepreneurs at 44 years-old compared to 52. This is despite the extra challenges they face, including access to finance and cultural and language barriers. A YouGov survey undertaken for the report found that a significant proportion of the general public believe migrant entrepreneurs make a positive contribution to the UK (44 per cent) and a majority support the government's efforts to attract new migrant entrepreneurs (50 per cent). This is despite the fact the public view immigration in a generally negative light and support a reduction in net immigration (68 per cent).
