“It has forced a lot of people to leave."
A tech entrepreneur says he is preparing to leave the UK for Dubai over concerns about Labour’s proposed exit tax on wealthy emigrants.
Herman Narula, the 37-year-old chief executive of the £2.5 billion tech firm Improbable, said the move followed reports that Chancellor Rachel Reeves planned to introduce a “settling-up charge” targeting entrepreneurs.
Mr Narula, Britain’s richest self-made entrepreneur under 40, told The Telegraph:
“I don’t particularly want to leave the UK – but I might want to one day and I don’t want to be banned from that option.”
He called the proposed exit tax “irresponsible” and warned it would push more founders to relocate abroad.
“It has forced a lot of people to leave.”
The measure would impose capital gains tax on wealthy individuals who move abroad, preventing them from avoiding UK taxes by shifting assets to low-tax jurisdictions.
While similar systems exist in other countries, critics argue the move could harm Britain’s business climate by prompting founders to sell early or avoid setting up UK-based companies altogether.
Mr Narula said the Government’s current approach risked damaging innovation.
He described the plans as “anti-entrepreneur” and said it was “bonkers” that new taxes were being imposed on “great British start-ups.”
He warned that the speculation itself was destabilising confidence.
“It’s too unstable and too risky to maintain residency”, Mr Narula said, adding that it would make him question bringing new business to Britain.
Mr Narula, born in India and now a UK citizen, has lived in Britain for decades and studied at Cambridge University.
He added: “The impression I am left with is that the country doesn’t want immigrants, especially not ones that start companies.”
As a co-founder of Improbable, Herman Narula is one of Britain’s most prominent tech figures.
He began coding at 12 and founded Improbable at 29. The company raised £380 million in 2017 from Japanese tech giant SoftBank and was valued at £2.5 billion in 2022.
Mr Narula owns just under a third of the business, with his stake estimated at £780 million.
Improbable has built technology spanning gaming, defence, artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency. In 2024, it spun out its defence arm, which produces military simulation tools.
Mr Narula’s criticism comes as hundreds of entrepreneurs unite against the Treasury’s reported tax plans.
By November 11, over 1,000 start-up leaders had signed an open letter to Ms Reeves warning that an exit tax would send the message that founders “aren’t welcome” and should “either get out early or not come at all.”
The letter, organised by the Start-up Coalition, said:
“Instead of rebuilding trust with entrepreneurs, a potential exit tax sends the opposite message: the beatings will continue until morale improves.”
The backlash follows similar moves by high-profile founders.
In October, it was revealed that Revolut’s billionaire founder Nikolay Storonsky had shifted his main residence to the UAE, a decade after launching his company in London.
Mr Narula said Britain could not afford to lose more innovators. He warned that an exit tax would accelerate the “brain drain” at a time when the UK already struggles to compete with the US and the Middle East for talent.
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