The founder of a growing Scottish tech startup said he is considering leaving the UK if the government doesn’t create better conditions for firms to do business in reaction to the Autumn Statement.

Euan Cameron, of Glasgow-founded global asynchronous video interview platform Willo, said Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement yesterday had left the country one step away from forcing tech companies to do business elsewhere – despite the government’s claims it plans to turn the UK into the next Silicon Valley.

Cameron, whose firm has received more than £1 million of investment, said the Chancellor has left millions worse off through tax hikes and a lack of support on energy bills, which has a huge impact on customer bases, workforces, and the overall talent pool.

Cameron said: “The UK as a country is in for a really long and uncomfortable few years – possibly even just a general future. We’ve had 15 years of austerity, already, and all I see in this budget is more – and that impacts everyone. If we go any further, it makes the country less attractive for companies like us to operate.

“Why on earth would we want to be here when there is potentially going to be a lower quality of life for our team; where our customers are paying us less because they have less to spend; and where there are potentially fewer customers in general.

“We would typically go where our customer base is, and if other countries have better economies – which many clearly do, even in Europe – then what is the incentive to stay in the UK?

“Outside of the energy sector, there was very little to be encouraged by in the Chancellor’s budget from a business perspective. Even in those sectors, it will be challenging to secure the right people in a diminished talent pool.

“Years of under-investment has created a horrible downward spiral, where there is no growth, a struggling economy, no healthy education system to create new talent, and no money to spend, so I’m not quite sure what the long-term outlook really is, but it doesn’t look positive.”

What is the Autumn Statement?

Yesterday afternoon (November 17) Jeremy Hunt announced his the statement, which laid out the plans for the UK’s finances over the next few years – and it was grim reading for many.

The news left some tech sector figures encouraged, but others felt disappointed. An official from the Scottish Government’s said that some areas of the statement ‘lacked clarity’, and that wavering policies will make it difficult for their coming budgetary plans.

In his speech in the commons, Hunt said: “I want to combine our technology and science brilliance with our formidable financial services to turn Britain into the world’s next Silicon Valley,” adding that the UK “needs to be better at turning world class innovation into world class companies.”

During his speech, though not laying out how how would achieve the next Silicon Valley in the UK, he did make several plans in different areas that will dramatically influence the UK tech sector.

This included focusing on areas such investment into energy efficiency projects, and funding for digital transformation. However, Hunt also announced tax increases across the board cuts to UK research and development.

However, some tech leaders in Scotland don’t see much weight behind Hunt’s claim to make the UK the next Silicon Valley.

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Helena Murphy, managing partner at Raising Partners, a Scottish firm that specialises in helping start-ups across the UK raise early-stage funding, criticised the Chancellor’s suggestion the UK can be the next ‘Silicon Valley’, but said she expected some industries to do well from the budget.

She said: “The chancellor’s suggestion the UK can become the next Silicon Valley is nothing but empty rhetoric. This is an entirely different country with entirely different conditions, and we should stop comparing ourselves to it.

“However, more government focus on tech – especially within sectors such as energy, energy security, and infrastructure – means more opportunity for firms operating in those sectors. Each of these sectors will see increased government control and most likely large government contracts.

“If you’re addressing a big problem – especially anything that is going to improve the UK’s energy independence – the government is going to be behind it and send investors your way who’ll want to back it as that’s what’s going to become government mandated.

“However, the proof will be in the pudding as we wait to see what the government will actually do to turn the UK into the ‘next Silicon Valley’.”

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