Two of the UK鈥檚 most successful tech unicorns have called for easier visa rules for the fastest growing companies after Brexit, but is it a good idea?
Will Shu, CEO of Deliveroo, and Rishi Khosla, CEO and cofounder of fintech OakNorth, have voiced their support for 鈥榰nicorn visas鈥�.聽 The proposed 鈥榰nicorn visa鈥� would mean special visas to allow the UK鈥檚 fastest-growing tech companies to attract the best foreign talent. The proposal would remove the some of the hurdles that may occur when the UK leaves the European Union.
Shu has backed the idea, writing in , he said: 鈥淭he UK has 15 [unicorns], which is great but it鈥檚 not enough and nor is it guaranteed to continue in such a competitive global marketplace. So we should all be ambitious for Britain and want to see the next generation of unicorns founded and grown right here.鈥�
A suggested that 鈥榰nicorn visas鈥� 鈥� available to both the UK鈥檚 current unicorns and also companies who can prove they鈥檙e potential unicorns 鈥� could help sustain the UK鈥檚 impressive growth in the tech sector.
The report suggests: 鈥淥nce the appropriate criteria had been met, qualifying companies would then be allowed to have Certificates of Sponsorship to issue a certain number of 鈥榰nicorn visas鈥� 鈥� allowing them to attract the brightest and the best from around the world with a minimum of fuss.鈥�
Although 鈥榰nicorn visas鈥� may well combat the mounting anxiety felt by tech companies around Brexit, the idea could create a聽 two-tier system. While 鈥榰nicorn visas鈥� give unicorns a chance to sustain their growth with ease, it鈥檚 possible that such a system will hurt smaller businesses as special dispensation is only being proposed for large successful companies.
Alex Depledge, founder and CEO of two UK startup success stories (Resi and Hassle.com), believes 鈥榰nicorns鈥� shouldn鈥檛 receive special treatment when it comes to visas.
She says: 鈥淔or me, we need to get talent into the UK quickly and visas should be fast tracked for all business big and small. The right answer to speaking out on this is not to try to carve out particular parts of business like high growth for special treatment, as it just disadvantages employees and economic growth overall.鈥�
