Duncan Cheatle, founder of networking firm The Supper Club, headed a group of young entrepreneurs to hand in a 16,000-name petition to Downing Street, asking to scarp the increase of the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) ahead of an announcement of concessions by the Chancellor, now expected on Monday.

The petition against the 80% rise in CGT on business assets, which follows the submission by the Federation of Small Businesses of an alternative to CGT taper relief, has drawn support from across the business community and is backed by all the main employers' bodies and The Daily Telegraph.

Cheatle described support for the petition as the ‘tip of the iceberg’ in the number of people who would be affected by the tax changes proposed to take effect on April 5.

Mr Cheatle was joined at Downing Street by four other entrepreneurs – William Reeve, co-founder of the film download firm, LoveFilm.com; Sarah McVittie, co-founder of mobile information service Texperts; Duncan Grossart, of international photo agency Image Source; and Charlie Gordon-Lennox, co-founder of home-sitting service The Keyholding Company.

Further reading:

Tax the biggest concern for SMEs

Sanger to look at CGT alternatives

Read story in The Daily Telegraph