By Jon Robinson,Stu Forster
Copyright cityam
Cricket legend Michael Vaughan has issued a plea to Chancellor Rachel Reeves to help out start-ups and small-to-medium-sized (SMEs) businesses in her Autumn Budget on 26 November.
Vaughan, who has recently invested in health and wellness supplement start-up Uthful, hit out at the employers’ National Insurance increase included in last year’s Autumn Budget for causing budding entrepreneurs to not think their companies could survive.
He added that the Chancellor should help young people have the confidence to set up their own businesses and to foster a culture where people “create things that have never been done before”, and have that real vision of opportunity”.
‘Young people come up with the greatest ideas’
“All you want is people to have a chance and an opportunity.
“Within any business, if you’re getting hit all the time with National Insurance and many other taxes that are coming to fruition, inflation is driving the price.
“So those people that are starting out to create a business will go ‘I don’t think I can make this work’.
“You want people to have that vision and that idea of a company that they have a chance, and if there’s any way she can help that I’m sure she will.
“Young people can come up with the greatest ideas and we have to make sure that there’s a platform there for young people to go ‘okay, I’ve founded a business and there’s a real pathway and a road map for that business to be successful’.
“If she can help in any way to create that, that’d be great for the people that are trying to be entrepreneurs and idea creators.
“That’s what you want in your country. You want people to create things that have never been done before, and have that real vision of opportunity.”
‘I just feel sorry for MPs these days’
Asked whether he thought the Labour government has done a good job since taking power, Vaughan added: “I don’t get into politics. I really find it frustrating because I just think it’s become too nasty.
“I just feel sorry for MPs these days that this thing is becoming too nasty.
“The social media brigade will attack either side. It’s like it’s become like a football brigade.
“You’re either a red or a blue and there’s no middle ground. It’s become a place where I’m thankful that I’m not involved in politics.”
Vaughan added that despite the heated political discourse around currently, the UK is still a good place to invest in.
He said: “It clearly is affecting the economy the way that everyone seems to be taking sides on any comment or opinion.
“I guess social media is driving that, because everyone can have their say but I do always think that the UK will be a good place to invest.
“At the minute you could argue that it’s a little bit precarious and you look around the world and think ‘where is a solid place to invest in the minute?’
“I think the world’s in a place that just needs a little bit of leveling out and a little bit of maturity being shown.
“But I still feel in the UK, we have people and companies that are well worth investing in.”
Michael Vaughan: How I choose which start-up to invest in
Vaughan was speaking to City AM after recently investing in health and wellness supplement start-up Uthful, which was founded by Simon Swan.
His investment is set to be used to support Uthful’s growth, as part of a £250,000 seed round, ahead of the start-up’s launch later this year.
Asked why he decided to invest in this start-up in particular, Vaughan said: “When I invest I look at brands and I look at people that run them.
“Simon is a very impressive person that has obviously done well in business before and he suddenly got into the health sector in terms of trying to make sure that as he got older, he stayed healthier.
“He’s developed this product and when I met him, everything about the products was everything that I was taking anyway,
“I’ve been taking NMN, B12, vitamin C, magnesium, potassium – you name it.
“I’ve been taking it every day in a tablet form or on a plate that I used to put under my tongue, which was great as well.
“But carrying everything around as a person that travels the world in a big bag of drugs – it’s quite awkward going through the airports and a one stop shop is perfect for me.”
He added: “I’m a big believer in backing people. I only ever invest in the human.
“A really good person will run a good business and a really good person will get the business out of difficulty.
“I look at the product, but more importantly, I look behind the person that’s running the product and has come up with the idea. And I think that’s very important.”
