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Read this in tandem with its sister article, ‘Why should we stay?’ ask the billionaires. Why should we let them?

If corporations want to abandon Britain, fine. But don’t let them leave with our wealth still in their pockets.

Another day, another firm packing up and leaving the London Stock Exchange.

The latest figures are damning: more than 200 companies have exited UK markets since 2016, with nearly 160 of those in just the last two years.

Some are being bought out by private equity.

Others are decamping to New York, Amsterdam, Sydney.

Many are simply disappearing from public markets altogether.

We’re told this is a “wake-up call” for Britain.

That we need to act—urgently—to keep our firms onshore.

And what does that action look like?

Predictably: lighter regulation, bigger executive pay packets, tax breaks, looser scrutiny.

Anything to make the corporate class feel “comfortable.”

But here’s a better idea:

If they want to leave, let them. Just don’t let them loot the place on the way out.

This isn’t an unfortunate accident. It’s a cynical choice.

Companies aren’t leaving the UK because of one bad budget or a bit of red tape.

They’re leaving because the current system makes it profitable to do so.

Private equity firms can buy up listed companies, load them with debt, and exit with billions.

CEOs can earn more abroad.

Boards can avoid awkward questions about pay, tax, or climate.

And they know—because successive governments have shown it time and again—that they’ll face no consequences for doing it.

We roll out the red carpet when they arrive.

And we say nothing when they vanish.

That needs to change—now.

If a company builds its wealth in Britain, relies on UK infrastructure, benefits from our legal system, is backed by UK pensions, listed on our stock exchange, or employs our people, then it has obligations to this country.

And if it tries to cut and run?

Then yes—it should face penalties.

What kind of penalties should they face?

1. A “Departure Levy” on firms delisting from the LSE.
If you’re going to cash out of our markets, take your investors’ money, and list elsewhere—you settle up first. A windfall-style levy, tied to past earnings and market cap, could recoup some of what’s being lost.

2. Exit conditions for public investment.
If a company has received any form of public support—R&D grants, pandemic bailouts, tax reliefs—there should be legal conditions on staying in the UK for a period of time. Violate that? You pay it back—with interest.

3. Block predatory takeovers of strategically important UK firms.
France and Germany already screen foreign takeovers for national interest. Why don’t we? Britain’s best companies shouldn’t be sold off to the highest bidder just because a hedge fund wants a quick return.

4. “No contribution, no access.”
Firms that flee our markets or aggressively avoid tax shouldn’t then be allowed to bid for UK government contracts, own UK infrastructure, or benefit from public pension investment. You want our benefits? You pay your dues.

Of course, the usual suspects will cry foul

They’ll say it’s anti-business.

That we’re scaring investment.

That we’re being too “punitive.”

But let’s be honest: what they really want is a one-way street—where the UK provides everything and demands nothing.

They want the skilled workforce, the courts, the infrastructure, the clean balance sheets—without having to answer to anyone.

They want to privatise the profits and socialise the consequences.

That’s not investment.

That’s extraction.

We need to stop treating corporate flight as a law of nature

This is not gravity.

It’s not inevitable.

It’s the result of decades of political cowardice—of refusing to ask the powerful for anything, lest they get upset and leave.

It’s the same playbook billionaires are using: threaten to go, take the money with you, and watch as governments crawl across the floor begging you to stay.

Enough.

The rest of us can’t just pack up and leave when things get hard.

We don’t get golden parachutes and exit strategies.

We live here.

We work here.

We pay our taxes here.

And we deserve a government that will fight for our interests—not just those of footloose capital.

Let them leave, if that’s what they want.

But let’s make one thing clear: nobody gets to profit from Britain without paying their fair share to it.

Not people.

Not firms.

Nobody.

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