Younger workers more likely to work for foreign business owners

Almost one-quarter of Millennials work for owners born overseas


Almost one-quarter of Millennials work for owners born overseas

Younger UK employees are more likely to work for a company owner from overseas than their older contemporaries, according to research by alternative finance company Flexiwise.

The report suggests 15% of UK workers are working for a UK resident who is not British. This figure increases to 20% when isolating staff aged between 25 and 34-years-old. For those aged 18-24 it climbs even higher to 23%.

Of those who do work for non-British business owners, the majority (58%) work for a company with 50 employees or more. Just over one-quarter (28%) work for an employer of between 11 and 49 staff and 11% for a micro business (10 employees or fewer).

Flexiwise is launching a service to help SMEs with overseas owners secure funding. Founder and managing partner Max Chmyshuk, a Ukrainian national with dual UK citizenship, said there are many UK-based companies with overseas owners that make a “huge contribution to the UK economy and employ many people”.

“However, because they may not have a very long credit history in the country or no equity in a home to offer as a guarantee for a loan, they can struggle to secure funding from some lenders,” he said.

Prime Mortgages owner Unal Ezgu, originally from Turkey, agreed that “language is a big problem” for immigrants looking to secure funding.

“The banks require long forms to be filled out. It also takes years to build up a credit history,” he said. “So when many are rejected by the banks they mostly set up with their own resources, or borrow from friends and family.”

 

Praseeda Nair

Praseeda Nair

Praseeda was Editor for GrowthBusiness.co.uk from 2016 to 2018.

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