The government’s tax squeeze on businesses, and ministers’ lack of private sector experience, shows that the “political system is broken” in the UK, a top entrepreneur has claimed.
Edward Lovett, founder of luxury online auction house The Collecting Group, launched a damning assessment of the business environment in Britain under Labour, telling City AM that it should take a leaf out of the Trump administration’s embrace of business.
“Labour have come in without any real knowledge of how to run a business,” he said.
“I hope for more of what we see in the US, where Trump has surrounded himself with business people, where they can make conscious decisions on how you grow [an economy].”
A classic Range Rover currently being auctioned (image courtesy of Collecting Cars)
Lovett’s firm Collecting Cars has grown rapidly since he founded it in 2018, expanding into Australia, Hong Kong and across Europe, and recently surpassing £1bn in auctioned sales of classic and high-end automobiles.
And the UK’s parlous business landscape is part of the reason behind his choice of Dubai as its newest market, which his firm entered at the start of this year.
The city’s business-friendly tax system, which famously doesn’t levy taxes on income or inheritance, has lulled a record number of high net worth individuals onto its shores.
Lovett said that reading newspaper articles showing the “massive exodus of millionaires from the UK last year” and “Dubai being the biggest beneficiary” contributed to his decision to set up shop in the gulf city.
“And with that wealth it’s maturing. The money there is more legitimate. It might be someone that’s sold a business in the UK that has gone there not to pay any tax.”
An Aston Martin DB5 auctioned by Collecting Cars (image courtesy of collecting Cars)
According to wealth analytics firm New World Wealth, the UK lost a record net 10,800 millionaires to other jurisdictions in 2024 as they look to escape what they see a punishing tax environment relative to the likes of Dubai and Switzerland.
Lovett’s move came despite him initially having reservations about the area’s long-held reputation as a honeypot for illicit cash.
“The money there is pretty dirty… and it was one of the countries that used to be blacklisted from banking point of view,” he said, before adding that car dealerships there “used to be washing machines” for ill-gotten gains.
Lovett, whose firm is the largest specialist online auction site of its kind outside of the US, sold Rod Stewart’s Ferrari for £2.9m in 2023. And City AM can reveal he plans to open up a range of new verticals, including whisky, wine and art under a wider ‘collecting.com’ banner.
“Birkin handbags [the highly sought after Hermes-designed bags that retail at north of £50,000] is inevitably one of the first areas we’ll target,” he said.
“I think it gives us an opportunity to market to a female audience, who hopefully have wealthy husbands or girlfriends or boyfriends – who like cars and watches.”
The entrepreneur added: “I have a deep desire to get into the art space, and educate online bidders that you can buy art away from the quite intimidating gallery environment.”
Lovett, whose father founded the eponymous car dealership Dick Lovett, also laid into the government’s changes to Business Asset Disposal relief, an inheritance tax carve out for business owners passing on their firms.
He said: “My father’s built a business over 65 years. He’s not going to be changed by the Labour government coming in. He will do the planning he needs to do. But it’s also a very successful, profitable business that employs 1,000 people. It’s not just about selling a a business for a quick win or a tax gain. It’s about continuing the livelihood employees.”