Deepbridge Capital has called upon new Prime Minister Liz Truss to use the Enterprise Investment Scheme to support UK business.
In an open letter to the Prime Minister, Andrew Aldridge, partner at Deepbridge Capital, says utilising EIS would showcase the government’s desire to support UK innovation, whilst empowering UK investors to support future high growth opportunities.
Aldridge says: “We have a strong funding community in the UK but the Enterprise Investment Scheme has arguably never been more critical. The EIS is internationally recognised as one of the most effective tax relief schemes, providing investors with an unparalleled mix of generous tax reliefs including income tax relief, capital gains tax deferral, CGT-free growth, IHT exemption and share loss relief.”
Aldridge has urged the Prime Minister to remove the 2025 sunset clause, which was agreed with the EU when seeking state aid approval for EIS, describing the clause as a hindrance to investment and entrepreneur confidence.
Aldridge says: “Your team in the Treasury, and a number of your MPs, have been liaising with the likes of the Enterprise Investment Scheme Association, the UK Business Angels Association, and The British Private Equity & Venture Capital Association to objectively showcase the impact of the EIS in terms of job creation, tech and life sciences advancement and HMRC receipts. All research we have seen to date, including our own at Deepbridge Capital, emphatically shows a significantly positive impact across the board.”
According to Aldridge, an “easy win” for the Government would be to increase the Seed EIS limits from the current £150,00 maximum SEIS raise per company and £100,000 limit per investor to £300,000 and £200,000 respectively.
Aldridge adds: “At Deepbridge we shall continue to support great early-stage companies across the technology and life sciences sectors, providing private investors with access to these opportunities no matter what, but it would be great to continue this under the world-leading Enterprise Investment Scheme.”
