London to remain a global hub for entrepreneurs

London will remain a global hub for international entrepreneurs, according to over half (52%) of the customers of crowdfunding platform Seedrs.

Seedrs said that its research polling found that 16% of those asked believe that London will now lose out to other international hubs, following the result of the EU referendum, while the remaining 32% are “don’t knows”. The research also found that the biggest concern for entrepreneurs post-Brexit is uncertainty about the future, not a potential lack of access to business finance. And 41% said that uncertainty over regulatory change was their key worry. Other concerns flagged up are low growth levels (35%), losing foreign direct investment (33%) and rising unemployment (27%).

Commenting on the polling results, Seedrs CEO and co-founder, Jeff Lynn, commented: “We haven’t seen any slowdown in investment activity since the referendum, and we believe strongly that the UK remains highly attractive for inward investment. Our research supports the view that London will continue to be one of the top destinations for entrepreneurs looking to set up a business.” Panmure Gordon chief economist, Simon French, said: “We believe that a negotiated ‘soft Brexit’ rather than a ‘hard Brexit’ will enable the UK to remain dynamic and stay ahead in the global race for talent.” Gray Stern, co-founder of peer-to-peer lending specialist Landbay said: “If I was launching Landbay again in the current climate, London would still be my number one choice, Brexit or no Brexit. New start-ups can benefit from the economic conditions in London and as long as they keep their messages focused, digestible and realistic they will continue to secure equity investment.”