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.”