By Rupert Hargreaves
One of the major criticisms levelled against the UK and the City of London in recent years has been a lack of interest in startups and venture investing. A lack of tolerance for risk has been blamed for the problem, but one of Europe’s most prolific founders disagrees with that view.
“There’s a lot of tendency to bash the UK economy and eco-system for startups,” Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou told City A.M.,” but I think the eco-system is far better than Europe.”
Stelios has more experience than most when it comes to comparing the business environment in the UK to the rest of the world.
The Greek Cypriot entrepreneur is best known for founding Easyjet, but he has also helped hundreds of other businesses get off the ground, mostly via partnerships with the Easygroup, which owns the rights to the easy brand. While Stelios and his investment vehicles no longer own a controlling stake in Easyjet, every time a ticket is bought on easyJet, easyGroup collects 0.25 per cent of its transaction value as a royalty.
That generates a steady stream of income to be reinvested into other businesses and partnerships such as Easyhotel.com, Easybus.com, Easycar.com, Easyfly.travel, Easyhub.com and Easymoney.com.
However, despite his broad range of business interests, Stelios said he does not consider himself a serial entrepreneur.
“I think the term ‘serial entrepreneur’ can be misunderstood. It sounds like we’re starting a business, closing it down and then starting again. We’re not doing that,” he said.
Instead, the founder of Easygroup said he likes to think of himself as a business manager who’s in the “business of managing one business; that’s the easy brand.”
Stelios spoke to City A.M. following the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation’s inaugural Young Entrepreneurs’ Awards, which were designed to help the UK’s most promising startups with an infusion of cash and advice from the Easygroup founder.
This year’s winners were picked from a pool of 52 UK-based businesses and shared a pot of £300,000 in cash prizes. Every entrant had to be under 35 and have been running a registered company in the last five years with an ownership stake or more than 50 per cent.
What’s more, only businesses with a turnover of £1m or less could apply. Stelios and his team set this target as they wanted the grants to make a meaningful contribution to each company. “We have to make the prize worthwhile for people to apply for it,” he told City A.M.
A grant of £150,000 for a business with a turnover of £1m or less is a meaningful amount. It was also important for the entrepreneur to target young entrepreneurs. “I think 28 is a good time to start a business,” he said. “You know a little bit but are still willing to take the risk [of starting a business].”
The biggest grant was awarded to Amelia Christie-Miller’s Bold Bean Co, who started her company in 2021 with the goal of “making beans interesting again.” Tom Ushakov, of the London Pregnancy Clinic took home the second prize, while Charlotte Stavrou nee Williams’s Sevensix Agency took home the last grant.
Sevensix Agency was founded to address the racial pay gap in the influencer space, with the aim of crafting marketing strategies that reflect diverse voices.
Stelios admitted the world of influencers is new to him, but that’s part of the reason why he wants to be part of these businesses.
“We connect with these people very well,” he said. “I think [the best part is] learning from each other. I pick their brains, they pick my brains. The whole influencer sphere is new to me, so I like to spend time with Charlotte to learn more about influencers,” he added.
Small businesses are, in the words of the Easygroup founder, fundamentally important for the growth of the economy. “If you’re trying to make an economy grow, if you’re trying to create new jobs, funding startups, especially young startups, is the best way to create new jobs,” he told City A.M.
That’s because small businesses “always create new jobs,” because they “always want to grow.” Big corporations, on the other hand, sometimes want to grow and sometimes want to shrink.
While Stelios was lucky enough to have a helping hand from a wealthy family when he started Easyjet, something he admits he was “very lucky to receive,” he added: “I think you can always find money somewhere. There’s plenty of money sloshing around looking for a home.”
