Alex Depledge has resigned as the UK government’s entrepreneurship adviser, accusing ministers of relegating the nation’s fastest-growing companies to a “sideshow” while showering attention on legacy industries.
The departure lands as a fresh blow to Labour’s strained relationship with the tech sector. Depledge, who founded the home services platform Hassle.com and now runs the property renovation startup Resi, took on the advisory role in 2020. Her exit follows months of private frustration over policy direction.
“Entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of the UK economy, and we seem hell bent on making it impossible for them to survive,” she wrote in a resignation letter seen by Sifted. “I didn’t sign up to be part of a sideshow.”
Depledge specifically flagged the government’s October 2024 Budget, which raised capital gains tax and tightened business asset disposal relief. Those changes, she argued, disproportionately punish founders who have spent years building companies from scratch.
Meanwhile, recent government communications around the Startup Coalition and other industry groups have downplayed the role of high-growth tech firms. The contrast with rhetoric around manufacturing and traditional industries has not gone unnoticed.
“When Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves talk about growth, I no longer recognise the country they describe,” Depledge added.
Her resignation follows a turbulent period for UK startup policy. The previous Conservative administration also struggled to convince founders that it understood their needs, particularly around R&D tax credits and access to talent.
The government now faces pressure to name a successor who can rebuild trust with founders. Whether ministers treat that appointment as a priority will signal how seriously they take the innovation economy.
