Hearts & Minds: Why Non-Doms need new comms

According to the City of London directory there is no Worshipful Company of Non-Doms. Perhaps there should be, given the prominence this grouping occupies in business and finance. Not just in the UK, but across the world. Unattached super-rich foreigners are all the rage with countries – US, UAE, EU members, Australia, Switzerland etc – offering ‘golden tickets’ and low tax status. Meanwhile, the UK government is in a pickle for seeking to remove their benefits, which has driven many away while dissuading others from coming, and engaging in a frantic policy reversal.

The problem is that the idea of monied individuals wandering the globe, settling where they like in exchange for advantages not available to ordinary citizens does not make them popular, especially with the left (hence Labour’s initial crackdown). Which is why they could do with their own City livery or similar to press their case. In short, the people need convincing.

Making the unpalatable palatable is the toughest assignment in PR. In the case of the non-doms, as they are known in the UK, they are wealthy and foreign. They are blamed for driving up property prices, leading lives untouched by the pressures affecting others, not caring about where they reside and not putting anything in, and flashing their material possessions. Against that they bring investment and jobs.

It's this that requires pushing and not only by themselves but by the leaders that are so keen to woo them. At present, those speaking in their favour are the attendant wealth and professional services advisors. To which the too-easy riposte is, they would say that wouldn’t they? Otherwise, their cause boils down to a few high net worths telling us how they are choosing to depart or how much they prefer another location. Again, not an argument that cuts through.

As with other difficult campaigns, theirs is about fighting emotion with facts, combating feelings with empirical evidence. If they inject money into the place they call home and create employment we must be told. What is needed is the production of hard numbers, covering those points, preferably from unimpeachable, unassailable sources. That would go some way towards silencing the critics and promoting their corner. Lace that with positive, personal stories about what they’re doing, investment and recruitment-wise, and the needle begins to swing in the opposite direction. It must be led and co-ordinated. Worshipful Company, this is your moment.  

Chris Blackhurst is one of the UK’s foremost business journalists. He was previously Editor of The Independent and City Editor of the Evening Standard.