Can the UK produce world-class tech companies that lead their markets? That’s the question the Sunday Times poses, essentially coming to the conclusion that in the main, IT entrepreneurs are selling their businesses, taking the money and running.

There are those that have become international successes – the likes of Sage, ARM, Autonomy, Misys and Ultra Electronics are all strong members of the FTSE 250. But in comparison to the US, which has the NASDAQ Index predominantly made up of tech companies we obviously lag behind.

Given a flotation is the obvious alternative to a trade sale, we should be encouraging tech companies to list, gain additional investment and grow. But it currently costs over £1m to list a business on a UK stock market, where you are competing for money with a huge range of companies from around the world, many of whom are selling simpler products such as raw materials, consumer goods or property.

Rather than criticise entrepreneurs and their VC backers for ‘selling out’ it is time that listing a company in the UK was made more attractive. This would bolster the UK tech sector and create more of the leaders that we are looking for.