That is absolutely wild.. 12m to a bank surely is pocket change. What possible justification did they give for that?
They gave the funds instead to Barclays incubator who is a for profit organization.
Meaning they will simply push and invest in what is currently making money and not unproven technologies and sciences.
This won't end well long term i feel.
The short version is that Barclays Eagle Labs project represented better value for the taxpayer because Barclays absorb the operational costs leaving the taxpayer's 12M to go wholly towards it's intended target. Tech Nation used some of the 12M to run it's self.
I'm no huge fan of Barclays bank (bad experience several decades ago, vowed to never touch them again), but they aren't "giving the money to the bank", it sounds like Barclays is taking over the contract to provide the service.
> [Barclays] will not, however, take over Tech Nation’s role administering the UK’s global talent visa. Tech Nation has notified the UK’s Home Office that its visa scheme will stop — though it will continue until then.
Kind of weird that Tech Nation is notifying the government that a visa program will stop. Does Home Office intend for another org to take over the role of administering tech applicants for the Extraordinary/Global Talent visa?
"the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) put Tech Nation’s contract up for grabs after growing concerned about its reliance on state money"[0]
"Barclays’ tech incubator Eagle Labs will use the government grant — which has been awarded for just two years — to launch new programmes to help tech companies"[1]
Q: In what sense did Tech Nation "administer" the global talent visa? It seems to be at https://www.gov.uk/global-talent - what did Tech Nation have to do with this?
[0] https://sifted.eu/articles/barclays-tech-nation-grant-fintec... [1] https://sifted.eu/articles/tech-nation-shutting-down/
When it comes to the UK, you can be sure that you will get lots of hyperbole and pretty minimal facts about this kind of thing. Not a year ago, the govt was getting criticized for creating "skilled visa schemes" for workers earning under ~£20k/year...yes, there are schemes for visas people earning over this amount too. Last year, 1m visas were awarded, this is the highest level ever.
In terms of startup funding: I believe there are now multiple multi-billion funds that are investing directly in startups, these funds even operate below the national level, Scotland has two directly run by the govt for example, local govt even has these, the govt announced today a multi-billion package for semiconductors, there are (I believe) currently three tax incentive schemes for startups.
It is important to understand that a change that is counter to this direction could just be because it is simpler to fold this kind of thing in to other services (this may just be me: I don't think having private companies involved in the visa award process is a good idea...just having Barclays do incubation is a good idea...and btw, private incubators usually have these relationships with banks too).
Of course, everything is still going to be placed within some weird narrative about "corruption" or Brexit...just UK things...
To get the visa you must first get an endorsement from a nominated organisation who's fit to judge your field (academia or research, arts and culture, or digital technology). Tech Nation did the endorsements for digital technology.
Once you have the endorsement from Tech Nation, the actual visa application done by Home Office is rather simple and is just 'rubber stamping' back in your home country.
Is it possible Tech Nation were a bit too happy getting their government funding, didn't devote enough time to thinking about diversifying their income, or the "value for money for the taxpayer" angle, then were surprised when the gravy train stopped?
I'd love to pick your brain if your open to that.
I enjoy living in the UK. The main thing that keeps me here is enertia - social circle and a (remote, but not async) job that I enjoy.
My initial move here was 100% a function of my age/stage in life. I do not regret moving here, and to be honest 'the current climate' doesn't really affect me that much.
You mistyped 'Tories'. Not that the Tory-lites (the other party) is any better.
“Our decision to make the Digital Growth Grant competitive brings the funding into line with the majority of government grants. Barclays Eagle Labs was successful because their application represented the best value for taxpayers’ money, will benefit the most startups and scaleups over the next two years, and was scored highest by an independent panel.”
Tories be tories.
But I should have been less pithy; his ancestry hadn't occurred to me, perhaps because I am an OCI myself.
p.s. what is his business background or his wife's inheritance?
My point is that he is a perfect synecdoche for his party: reflexively help establishment business and the donor class; ignore the small stuff that could grow large. And cutting anything that encourages immigration is important to the BREXIT wing of his party (which may be all that is left of it).