A new survey carried out by the investment specialists Skandia has discovered that a large portion of Britain’s wealthiest individuals are itching to leave the country.
In a survey of 500 UK millionaires, 56 percent stated that they wanted to leave the country, with eight percent claiming that they had already finalised plans to depart.
The usual reasons for leaving were cited- high UK taxes, poor quality of life and terrible weather being the main reasons.
Another interesting discovery from the survey was that only 14 percent of the UK millionaires inherited fortunes, meaning that 76 percent all made their own money. This is further damning for the United Kingdom as these people are thus members of a business elite, highly skilled and blessed with entrepreneurial gifts.
Talks of Britain suffering a brain-drain has been building in recent years, and these survey results seem to give those discussions more weight.
The anti-tax reason seems to be the biggest, but other factors are equally impactful, as Skandia spokesperson Jo Rimmer explained: “Government policies that impact social issues such as crime along with tax issues are driving this group to question their quality of life in the UK. It appears that, for a significant number, the grass is starting to look greener abroad.”