Alex Depledge quits as UK Treasury entrepreneurship adviser, warning ministers treat scale-ups as a 'sideshow'
What happened? Alex Depledge, the serial founder behind Resi and Hassle.com, is stepping down as HM Treasury's entrepreneurship adviser. She told The Times on 24 October 2026 that she will leave on Thursday 29 October, the day after Chancellor John Healey delivers his first Budget. Rachel Reeves made her the Treasury's first-ever entrepreneurship adviser in June 2025, and Healey reappointed her in August 2026 after taking over as chancellor.
What she said: "Entrepreneurship can't be seen as a good news bonus on the margins of economic policy," Depledge said, arguing that keeping scale-ups "on the fringes" underestimates the contribution of Britain's best companies. "They think it's over here with steel, cars and hard hats, that this is the 'main event'. And my argument has always been: no, scale-ups are the main event." She described her arrival at the Treasury as "like organ rejection" and said that after the change of chancellor she had to "relitigate all the arguments I had already won". On AI, she warned the UK is "in grave danger of not having a seat at the table", with a window of about 18 months, and she called for more of the roughly £3 trillion in UK pension capital to back high-growth companies.
Her track record in the role: Depledge helped secure an extension of the enterprise management incentive (EMI) share-option scheme at last year's Budget and hinted that new proposals could include an incentive for founders themselves. She said her main reason for leaving is that "at my very core, I'm an entrepreneur".
The other side: Healey has said he wants to be "a chancellor who backs business in Britain making a profit" and the entrepreneurs who "challenge the status quo", and he has ruled out a rise in capital gains tax. The government points to its record: the 2025 Budget doubled eligibility for the EMI scheme and raised Enterprise Investment Scheme limits, which HM Treasury called the biggest shake-up of entrepreneur tax incentives in a generation. Her reappointment terms, published by the Treasury, already set the role to end on 6 November 2026. Depledge has also drawn criticism before: in February, hospitality leaders objected when she said Britain does not need more restaurants. Separately, a group of founders including E2E's Shalini Khemka and Lord Leigh has urged Healey to protect Business Asset Disposal Relief in the Budget, while Build Circle CEO James Parsons said ministers should be "listening to leaders like Alex Depledge... not pushing them away".
Sources: The Times · Ben Riley-Smith on X · LBC · GOV.UK appointment notice · HM Treasury reappointment terms · HM Treasury on the 2025 Budget · Business Matters
Image credit: Milo Chandler / Alamy via LBC
