One of the Midlands’ most respected businessmen has told Insider he is considering leaving the UK because of high taxes.
Paul Bassi, chief executive of Birmingham-based property investment group Real Estate Investors (REI), said government policies are pushing successful entrepreneurs like himself overseas.
“I don’t think I’ll stay here long-term if the present taxation regime persists,” he said.
“Half of my friends don’t live in the UK anymore. So many entrepreneurs have been driven out of the Midlands, and until there is a reason for them to come back, they won’t.”
Bassi would join an exodus of wealthy people leaving the UK because of rising taxes, with one report claiming Britain is on course to lose 16,500 millionaires this year, more than any other country.
Bassi has had over 40 years of success in property investment, which has seen him snap up unloved office and retail sites at the peak of the financial crisis and the Covid pandemic and turn them into profitable assets.
He also chairs Bassi Capital, which oversees a number of property businesses.
“With the new rules around inheritance tax and taxation, all those entrepreneurs that have the talent, the experience, the knowledge and resources to make a difference are jumping ship, living in sunnier climates and paying less tax,” said Bassi, 63.
“I’m very happy paying tax, but it gets to a point where you want to hand your family business to your children. You don’t want them to have to sell half of it when you’ve spent your whole life making sure it hasn’t got any debt.”
Bassi and fellow directors are halfway through a three-year plan to sell off AIM-listed REI’s entire portfolio and return the proceeds to investors.
But he continues to invest in property through Bassi Capital, his private family business. It runs auction business Bond Wolfe and has stakes in property recovery specialist Watling Real Estate and CBGA Property Management, which has £3bn of assets under management.
“We’ve probably got the most successful auction house in the UK,” says Bassi. “We act for every major local authority and housing association, as well as British Waterways, the NHS and police.”
The claim that 16,500 millionaires are set to leave the UK in 2025 is from the annual Wealth Migration Report, published by Henley & Partners, a firm that advises affluent clients considering relocating overseas. It said high tax rates, particularly the abolition of the non-dom regime, combined with sluggish economic growth, were the biggest reasons for this.
However, the figure has been questioned by some experts.
Bassi blames the emigration of successful entrepreneurs on the poor calibre of UK politicians, and their lack of experience in the business world. However, he has no plans to go into politics himself.
“I don’t think I’ve got the patience to be a politician,” he said. “All the really talented people I know, who could make a massive difference, don’t get involved in politics.
“It’s a murky world.”