3 days ago
Reverse non-dom crackdown to get Britain building, Reeves urged
Rachel Reeves has been urged to scrap her controversial non-dom tax crackdown to lure foreign billionaires back to invest in Britain's much-needed building projects.
Leo Quinn, the chief executive of construction giant Balfour Beatty, said the Chancellor's abolition of the non-dom regime had driven away crucial investment from the nation's infrastructure.
Mr Quinn said: 'London's the best city on the planet and what we should be doing is attracting all these billionaires and wealthy families here ... because what they bring with them and the investments they make is phenomenal.
'I'm hoping that one [minister] will see the light and say, 'Maybe we've gone a little bit too far in what we've done around non-doms ... and we'll look to mitigate some of those rules.''
The Chancellor scrapped the non-dom status in April, a move widely blamed for chasing some of Britain's wealthiest people out of the country.
High-profile exits that followed the tax changes include Richard Gnodde, a Goldman Sachs banker, Aston Villa co-owner Nassef Sawiris and John Fredriksen, a Norwegian shipping magnate.
Mr Quinn, 68, said Britain was missing out on opportunities to attract wealthy businesspeople to invest in projects where they could 'take a long view' of the possible profits.
'The Government could do more to increase investment here, and there's huge opportunities to bring investment into the infrastructure market,' said Mr Quinn, who is stepping down after a decade at the company.
His comments come as figures show foreign investment into Britain plummeted to a record low last year, despite ministers' efforts to drum up cash from overseas.
The number of inbound foreign direct investment projects dropped by 12pc to 1,375, its lowest point since records began in 2008, according to data from the Department for Business and Trade.
In a trading update, Balfour Beatty said the Government's efforts to speed up infrastructure developments had buoyed half-year profits, which rose 18pc to £132m.
The company's projects include the £833m Net Zero Teesside carbon capture project and the Sizewell C nuclear plant, for which Balfour Beatty will deliver a third of the main civil engineering works.
A Treasury spokesman said it was attracting 'record investment to our shores' and providing investors with 'direction and clarity on our priorities for major projects'.
