As I write this, I am sitting at my desk in my spacious penthouse on the River Thames in the heart of London.
Through my floor-to-ceiling windows, I look out on to some of the capital’s most famous buildings, from the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Cathedral to the MI6 headquarters.
The views were one of the reasons I fell in love with this property, and after buying the 3,500 sq ft apartment four years ago, I’ve filled it with stunning pieces of art.
Believe you me, I’ve lived in some fine riverside flats over the years, but none has brought me so much pleasure.
It’s the best place I’ve ever lived, and from the moment I moved in – I’m 71 now – I assumed I would see out my days here.
Charlie Mullins is among many wealthy individuals choosing to take their money out of the UK, and over the next few months he plans to move every one of his assets
Today, though, it’s back on the market with a £12 million price tag.
Why? Because if, as is widely rumoured, the new Labour Government raises inheritance tax to 50 per cent, it means that when I die, roughly £6 million of my apartment’s sale price would go to the Treasury coffers.
I’m simply not prepared to let that happen – or for Keir Starmer’s socialist government to get their hands on any more of my hard-earned money.
That’s why, over the next few months, I am moving every single one of my assets, built up over 45 years of creating my business, Pimlico Plumbers, from scratch, out of the country.
My Rolls-Royce, my Bentley, my investments – they’re all going. I don’t intend to have even a bank account in my name here.
It’s not a decision I have made lightly, although in some ways it doesn’t feel like my decision at all. It would be more accurate to say I feel forced out by a hard-Left administration intent on inflicting punitive taxes on everyone from the striving middle-classes to the nation’s biggest wealth creators while feathering the nests of their union cronies.
And I’m far from alone. Barely a day goes by without another report detailing the number of wealthy individuals who have decided to take their money out of the UK.
The latest, from Henley & Partners – which helps wealthy investors to move overseas – found that Britain is on track to lose a record 9,500 millionaires this year alone.
That’s more than any country except China.
Earlier this year, meanwhile, banking giant UBS suggested that by 2028 a staggering 500,000 millionaires will leave the UK, equivalent to a 17 per cent fall.
You don’t have to be a PhD economist to work out that this means billions of pounds are being removed from our country’s coffers.
For months, entrepreneurs and investors have been telling me that they want out or they’ve already gone – because they no longer want to live under a government that punishes self-improvement and seems to loathe aspiration and ambition.
I feel that if I want to protect everything I have worked so hard for, for the sake of my children and grandchildren, then I have no choice but to move my assets, writes Charlie Mullins
How else to interpret the grim litany of tax rises that are already in place or in train? From VAT on private school fees to rumoured increases in capital gains tax, pensions relief and even Isas, Keir Starmer and his sidekick Rachel Reeves are raining blow after blow on those who already contribute most to the Treasury’s coffers.
Well, no longer. I have paid millions in tax year after year, and my accountants tell me that in my years owning Pimlico Plumbers, I paid no less than £100 million into the system – enough to pay the salaries of 2,700 nurses.
When I sold Pimlico three years ago to a US firm, I paid another £23 million in tax. I did so without complaint. I’ve nothing against paying reasonable amounts of tax. But there is nothing reasonable about this Government’s plans to soak the rich.
Any remaining doubts I might have had about staying aboard the sinking ship were robustly dispelled this week when Starmer axed the winter fuel allowance for struggling pensioners a month after giving train drivers – already earning £60,000 a year, a figure that many elderly on the breadline can only dream of – a 15 per cent pay rise.
Meanwhile, the beleaguered middle classes find taxes layered on taxes, from property to pensions and investments.
Sadly, most of the ‘squeezed middle’ have no choice but to stay and watch as the Government gnaws away not just at their income but also their future savings too.
After announcing my plans earlier this week, I received messages from people all over the country saying they wished they could follow in my footsteps.
So much for the Government’s ludicrous insistence this week that – and I quote – ‘The PM believes that the UK is the best place to do business and invest in.’
What planet are these people on? I wonder whether, as a former lawyer, Starmer would repeat his claim under oath.
Not when the country’s wealthiest businessmen and entrepreneurs are leaving in droves.
I started Pimlico Plumbers in 1979, the year that Margaret Thatcher became prime minister with an empowering message of self-improvement and a can-do spirit. I was the son of a factory worker and a cleaner and grew up on a council estate – but I was prepared to put the graft in.
Her message underlined that if you work hard, you will reap the rewards – and so will the country.
Mrs T was right. Over four decades, my business grew from a tiny company working out of my basement flat to a £140 million giant that has employed thousands of people, trained 1,200 apprentices and pumped millions into the economy.
We weathered all manner of ups and downs over the years, from the recession of the early 1990s and the financial crash of 2008 to the pandemic.
But, having emerged from these challenges, I never expected a new government to see me off.
That was until I was confronted by Starmer, who has revealed himself to be nothing more than a socialist in a suit he didn’t even pay for.
It’s no coincidence that countries such as Dubai – where, along with Spain, I intend to spend my time on leaving the UK – Portugal and Switzerland are proving popular destinations for those businesses and wealthy individuals who have already voted with their feet. Unlike the UK, these countries encourage the wealth-makers.
My son’s new business We Fix, which he’s billing as the Harrods of the handyman world, may yet follow suit.
It’s registered in the UK, and will of course pay tax in the UK, and I sincerely hope it’s a success.
But make no mistake, if business taxes spiral still further then, once he’s in a position to do so, he will move it out of the UK, too.
And I have made it clear that, in the meantime, I don’t want to be on the payroll because I’m simply not prepared to give the Government another penny of my money.
None of this gives me any pleasure. I have always loved Britain, and the prospect of leaving my country makes me very sad indeed.
But I honestly feel that if I want to protect everything I have worked so hard for – for the sake of my children and grandchildren – then I have no choice.
- Charlie Mullins OBE is the founder of Pimlico Plumbers. Mr Mullins is donating his fee for this article to Shooting Star Children’s Hospices.