Exodus of talent to UAE is worrying, says former UK leader

• Lord Cameron speaks at ADFW
• 16,500 millionaires predicted to leave UK
• UAE is world’s top ‘wealth magnet’

Former UK prime minister David Cameron said the growing number of entrepreneurs and high-net-worth individuals leaving the country has become a “worry”.

The UAE has become an increasingly popular choice for British expats. Last year an estimated 257,000 citizens left the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics, over 250 percent higher than a previous estimate of 77,000.

“I am worried about it. British entrepreneurs will always travel the world and set up businesses and go into new markets and that’s something my country has done for generations,” Lord Cameron said at Abu Dhabi Finance Week this week.

“But obviously I want talented people to think they are welcome to stay in London.”

A September survey of 1,000 UK adults by internet marketing company Ignite SEO found that 61 percent would relocate to another country if given the opportunity, with the UAE the number one destination.

“There are issues about how we tax people, but we’ve got to make sure all the other things we’ve got going for us, whether it is our schools, our universities, the quality of life, you’ve got to work on all those things,” said Lord Cameron, who is also a lecturer at NYU in Abu Dhabi.

Katy Holmes, CEO of British Chamber of Commerce Dubai, said the organisation had registered a 25 percent annual growth in membership over the last two years.

The UAE has been named the world’s top “wealth magnet”, with migration consultancy Henley & Partners projecting it will attract 9,800 high-net-worth individuals in 2025, the most of any country.

It also forecasts that 16,500 millionaires will leave the UK next year, marking the largest net outflow in a decade.

Reasons for leaving include higher taxes on top earners, changes to the non-dom regime (those who reside in the UK but whose permanent home, or domicile, for tax purposes is considered to be outside the UK) and broader political and economic uncertainty. 

Indian steel billionaire Lakshmi Mittal, who is worth £15 billion, is among the latest to relocate following the UK’s recent tax reforms, ending three decades of residence.

Calum MacLeod, founder of UK-based luxury camping consultancy Glampitect, this month sold his business to take up a full-time role as a real estate broker in Dubai. He estimated in the six years of operating Glampitect he paid nearly £3 million in tax.

“It feels like every year we’re taking a step back as a country and I think most of the West is the same,” he told AGBI.

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The latest budget from chancellor Rachel Reeves introduced a series of measures that increase the overall tax burden on high earners, including a two-percentage-point rise in taxes on investment income, covering property, dividends and savings from April 2027. 

A UK government spokesperson told AGBI previously that the country “remains a highly attractive place to live and invest”.

“Our main capital gains tax rate is lower than any other G7 European country and our new residence-based regime is simpler and more attractive than the previous one, whilst it also addresses tax system unfairness so every long-term resident pays their taxes here.” 

Ronald Graham, managing partner at Taylor Wessing, said the changes are accelerating the exodus of wealthy individuals. “It hasn’t done any favours to the market,” he told CNBC. “If you’re standing still or sending a negative message, as the UK perhaps is, you lose traction and people move away.”