Government urges US tech firms to come to UK

HQ-UK initiative will see government "roll out the red carpet" for US firms

A government initiative aimed at convincing US tech companies to select the UK as their international headquarters was launched this week.

Thanks partly to its low corporation tax rate, Ireland has emerged in recent years as a favoured international hub for tech giants including Google, Facebook and Dell.

HQ-UK, which was launched earlier this week by Baroness Shields, digital advisor to the Prime Minister, is designed to showcase what the UK has to offer.

It is a joint initiative between UK Trade and Investment, Tech City UK, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

HQ-UK has pledged to "roll out the red carpet" to make expansion easy for US tech companies in areas like visa applications, priority border control at UK airports, accelerated access to UK bank accounts and helping with company incorporations.

HQ-UK claimed that the UK will offer the lowest corporation tax in the G7 from 1 April 2015, adding that the country is home to four of the world's top six universities.

The UK also comes top for inward foreign direct investment stock in Europe and second in the world after the US, it added.

"Today, on behalf of Her Majesty's Government, I am pleased to launch HQ-UK - a new initiative which demonstrates exactly why tech companies should choose the UK as their international HQ and operational base when they expand from the US," said Baroness Shields.

"With the British economy growing at the fastest rate in the G7 in 2014, now is the time for technology companies expanding globally to choose the UK as their international hub."