‘We need the next Nikolay Storonsky’: Labour urged to act now to create next tech unicorn

Thursday 19 June 2025 8:36 am | Updated: Thursday 19 June 2025 8:40 am

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The boss of tech unicorn Motorway has called on the UK to encourage the next Revolut CEO Nikolay Storonsky to set up shop in this country. (Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunch)

The UK needs to attract the next Nikolay Storonsky to its shores if it wants a new technology revolution to be built here, the CEO of tech unicorn Motorway [1] has said. Tom Leathes, speaking on an up-coming episode of City AM's Boardroom Uncovered [2] show, said the country needs "the next Nikolai to come over and want to start in London" and for that not to be discouraged. The co-founder, whose company achieved a £1bn (?800m) valuation in 2021, added that London is significantly behind the likes of the US and Europe in the race to create the next "global knock out internet success".

However, Leathes did say that London is "an amazing place" with "talent across all kinds of industries" and that "so in many ways, it's a great way to start".

'UK needs to not discourage next Nikolay Storonsky from coming here'

On creating the next "global knock out internet success", the co-founder of Motorway said: "There's very few examples that have come out of the UK if we're honest about it. We have a lot of work to do as an economy. "There's a lot the government could do to support entrepreneurs, to support scale-ups and lift the ambitions of people building companies here to actually try and build global success stories.

When asked what like to see Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves do over the next few years, he said: "I have a long wish list but I'll pick a couple. "I think the first one is encouraging talent from all over the world to come and build in London. "That's something that I think we're starting to see some friction against at the moment.

Motorway CEO: How I built my £1bn empire after a huge failure [3]

"But if you want the next revolution built here, you need the next Nikolay [Storonsky CEO of Revolut] to come over and want to start in London and to not discourage that.

"So rules around tax treatment of residency and also entrepreneurs relief, those types of things encourage people to start companies wherever they're from. "I think the other bit that I've been trying to raise awareness of is stock options and share options plans. "We have a stock option plan in the UK, which has been around for a while, which is actually really good, called the EMI scheme.

"That enables you as a business owner to give share options to your team very cost efficiently. If the business exits, they're very low tax, which is brilliant. "The problem with that is that it's only really set up for small companies.

"Once you reach a certain size, you can't give those out anymore and you don't really have any other options to incentivise people that are any better than Tesco could offer.

"So that scheme in particular is something they could make some very simple changes to which would encourage start-ups growing quickly, to keep growing and keep getting the best talent."

Revolut looks to France for major European expansion [4]

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^ tech unicorn Motorway (www.cityam.com)
^ Boardroom Uncovered (linktr.ee)
^ Motorway CEO: How I built my £1bn empire after a huge failure (www.cityam.com)
^ Revolut looks to France for major European expansion (www.cityam.com)