Wealthy Britons are increasingly moving their assets and families abroad as experts say that next month’s UK budget meeting – expected to address reforms to the non-dom tax regime – could accelerate an already significant outflow of capital and talent.
The debate comes amid growing unease about regulatory unpredictability and the country’s diminishing appeal as a financial centre.
“A lot of people are leaving the country” as business sentiment and trust in the regulatory environment deteriorate, Philippe Amarante, managing partner for the Middle East and head of government advisory EMEA at Henley & Partners, told The National.
A record 16,500 millionaires are expected to leave the UK in 2025, according to Henley & Partners’ latest Global Wealth Migration Report in June, that looked at data from January to May. The outflow follows 9,500 departures in 2024, more than double the previous year’s figure.
Analysts say Britain has lost more than 16,000 millionaires since 2017, marking one of the largest wealth migrations in the world, according to the report.
Henley & Partners estimates the UK’s millionaire population has shrunk by nearly 9 per cent over the past decade, while other major economies have undergone strong growth.
Mr Amarante cited Brexit, the non-dom tax regime change, “the business sentiment [and] the overall regulatory predictability and reliability” that is somewhat shaken and is driving high-net-worth individuals to look for options.
“Wealthy people, successful people, business owners like to operate in safe environments, and safe not only necessarily in terms of crime or whatnot, but also same in terms of safe in terms of regulation,” he said on the sidelines of the Abu Dhabi Investment Forum (ADIF) in London on Thursday.
This is part of a trend seen globally – applications for residence and citizenship by investment programs globally increased by 43 per cent from the first three quarters of 2024 to 2025, according to Henley & Partners CMS data from Friday.
Applications for alternative residency and citizenship from US nationals have increased by 161 per cent in the first three quarters in 2025 compared to last year, and they hold the top position in terms of client nationality for this year.
Mr Amarante said that while many Americans are now relocating to the UK seeking better environments, the influx is no match for the scale of British capital leaving the country, he said. “It’s not a like-for-like change,” he noted, describing the shift as part of a broader “de-risking” trend among the wealthy who prioritise certainty above all else.
Mr Amarante observed that London no longer feels like “the centre of the universe”. Clients, he said, now call his offices “saying, ‘Hey Philippe, we don’t have a plan B. This doesn’t work for us any more.’”
This is leading to “a lack of confidence” and “missed opportunities”, as entrepreneurs move elsewhere.
He expressed hope that the UK budget meeting in November would acknowledge this “damaging” trajectory. “Whether there will be radical changes, I would doubt,” he said, “but I do hope that people are coming a little bit to their senses.”
Mr Amarante linked the problem to a wider “anti-migration sentiment across the board” in Europe and the UK, contrasting it with the UAE, where “it’s actually easier to set up a company and get a residence … than actually booking a flight and flying to London”.
Looking ahead, he predicted capital flight will continue although it might slow down. London “will always” remain a financial hub, he said, but wealthy individuals are branching out and “making their portion in the UK a bit smaller” as they seek jurisdictions “where they are treated in the way they would like to be treated”.
“When your neighbour is leaving, and then your neighbour on the [other] side is leaving, then you ask yourself, maybe it's time to pack my bag,” he added.
Medical moves
At ADIF in London, experts highlighted Abu Dhabi's medical sector as a growing draw for UK professionals and investors.
While Britain’s regulatory landscape feels unpredictable, Abu Dhabi offers what many describe as a secure, collaborative environment where private enterprise and government work in tandem.
“We see companies moving their R & D headquarters and manufacturing [to Abu Dhabi],” said Dimitris Moulavasilis, group chief executive of M42.
This year, UK-based biotech firm Juvenescence partnered with Abu Dhabi’s M42 to collaborate on AI-driven longevity research and drug development.
The companies have “very strong synergies … the embedding of AI at every level is something that’s very important to us – and very important to you”, Jim Mellon, deputy chairman of Juvenescence, told Mr Moulavasilis during an ADIF panel.
The emirate's focus on innovation is also attracting entrepreneurs in neurotechnology such as Nickolai Vysokov, co-founder and chief executive of BrainPatch, a London-based start-up developing non-invasive brain-stimulation devices.
“We’re focusing on creating something that actually works, some stimulation that you can actually feel, where it really makes a difference to you almost in an instant,” Mr Vysokov said. Its core target is stress.
“[Like when] your nervous system is in a sort of like wrong state, and it’s stuck in that chronically stressed state … people burn out, people end up with depression, with insomnia and lots of other conditions.”
It works by stimulating the vagus nerve and the vestibular nerve, to the effect of inducing a deep meditative state.
“Applying an electrical current to the location behind the ears with a specific waveform … you get the sensations almost instantly, but you get the benefits over slightly longer sessions,” Mr Vysokov said.
They can last from seconds to overall about 20 minutes. The company uses technology similar to electrical muscle stimulation used to improve mobility of people with health conditions or muscle tone for training.
He said he is looking to scale his business, but being in the UK brings its own hurdles. “We are considering different locations for the business … people are telling us, you should move to the US and China because of the proximity to low-cost manufacturing,” he said.
Mr Vysokov said in Britain the costs are more to do with the taxes, salaries and the VAT, which “as we scale up … becomes really significant”.
He called the UAE an ideal base for growth, also citing it as a promising option for personal reasons. “The free economic area, we can export across the globe, and the sort of neutrality of the area, and family safety,” he said.
Looking ahead, Mr Vysokov framed BrainPatch as in line with Abu Dhabi’s longevity vision: “We see ourselves as being like the arm of neurotechnology … we will be providing different stimulations for different purposes, for different experiences, probably eventually some medical applications as well.”
