Refugee entrepreneurs could potentially benefit the UK economy to the tune of £2bn if more tailored support was offered and barriers were removed.
Led by Co-Chairs Michelle Ovens CBE and Anil Qasemi, the Cedar Review sets out to challenge how we see refugee entrepreneurs and demonstrate that supporting refugee entrepreneurship is a clear economic opportunity for the UK.
The Review examined the current state of refugee entrepreneurship, assessed the economic value of refugee-led businesses and drew on international best practice to develop evidence-based recommendations for Government, business, and support organisations to drive economic growth by increasing the success and scale of refugee-founded businesses.
Led by Small Business Britain, the review found that there are 26,500 business owners with a refugee background in the UK. Over half the founders surveyed had run a business before arriving, while 79% already employ people or will be doing so soon, which the report said “highlights the significant entrepreneurial experience and ambition within the refugee community.”
The review also highlighted that refugee entrepreneurs face significant challenges, including restrictions on working and self-employed status during the asylum process. Over a third said that uncertainty around their UK status was a major hurdle to starting a business.
The report highlighted a disparity between settlement conditions and key parameters to running a business. Refugees receive 30 months of leave, renewable, with settlement on the core protection route requiring 20 years. However, commercial leases run between three and five years, funding is restricted by payback periods and employees expect certainty with a job offer.
Financial access is also an issue. Without a UK credit history, refugee founders encounter lending systems which “read that absence as risk rather than as missing data”. Refugee lender Skylight, which offers its service without credit checks, reports a 95% repayment rate and a 1.3% write-off rate, better than the wider CDFI sector.
Public attitudes to refugees present a further challenge. Ipsos polling for British Future found opinion on immigration more negative in 2025 than it has been in the past.
The report’s key recommendations include:
- Amending Immigration Rules so permission to work includes self-employment (sole trader registration) and reducing the waiting period to six months
- Counting verified business activity as an economic contribution towards settlement
- Publishing a single, authoritative plain-language guide to starting a business in the UK
- Reforming credit and identity checks to accept alternative evidence of creditworthiness
- Building an accessible, coordinated funding ladder (spanning micro-grants to growth funding)
- Opening access to markets and supply chains through social value procurement
- Building a navigated, 12-month end-to-end support pathway with mentoring from people with shared experience
- Teaching the language of business alongside core ESOL modules
