Millionaire plumber boss: ‘Tax me 50p and I’m off to Spain’

The millionaire boss of London's Pimlico Plumbers today threatened to move his firm to Spain because of the 50p "supertax" on high earners.

Charlie Mullins, whose firm employs more than 150 people and has an annual turnover of over £15 million, said companies would be tempted to "sling their hook" when the new rate comes in next month.

Chancellor Alistair Darling says the higher rate will go up from 40p to 50p in the pound on those earning more than £150,000. Shadow chancellor George Osborne has said he would like to reverse the tax at some point in the next Parliament but has not made a concrete pledge.

Mr Mullins, who started his company with a bag of tools and a van in 1979, said he was already working out how to relocate to the Costa del Sol.

"I am seriously considering saying goodbye Pimlico Plumbers and Hola Puerto Banus Plumbers. Why would an entrepreneur want to build a business in the UK when the only incentive for success is higher tax penalties that only succeed in driving them out of town?

"I don't think I am the only entrepreneur thinking this, there will be others who will be contemplating the same decision. This country will become an entrepreneurial desert. Any fool can work out that this tax hike is a desperate attempt to pay for the government's suicidal insistence on more spending despite the fact we're brassic. It just won't work."