Former Arm CEO claims that Britain is not doing a good job at retaining globally significant tech companies.

• Warren East, the CEO of Arm from 1994 to 2013, stated that the lackluster growth and low GDP per capita in the U.K. are a source of national embarrassment.
• Tech firms in Britain frequently relocate their operations abroad or list them in other countries.
• "East stated, "We believe we can provide innovative technology solutions in the U.K. However, we often struggle to realize our potential as a global business.""

A former CEO of a British chip design firm stated on Tuesday that the U.K. is not doing well in commercializing technology businesses globally and that the investor community needs to adopt a different mindset in order to succeed on the world stage.

Warren East, who led Arm from 1994 to 2013, stated in a keynote speech at Cambridge Tech Week that the U.K.'s lackluster growth and low GDP per head are a source of national embarrassment.

Firms that achieve scale in Britain often relocate to the U.S. or other countries due to difficulties in achieving global relevance from the U.K.

"East stated at Cambridge Tech Week that he believes we have a lot of innovative technology to offer in the U.K. However, he also admitted that we often fail to realize as many global businesses as our promise suggests."

The CEO of U.K. aviation engineering giant was previously East. He is currently a non-executive director on the board of Tokamak Energy.

Britain needs to strike a balance between commercialization and innovation, as too much innovation is created in the U.K. but often exported elsewhere globally.

Unfortunately, it is a common occurrence for great British inventions to be commercialized and exploited abroad, as East stated. Although he does not have a definitive solution, he suggested that the U.K. should foster a greater "risk appetite" to support high-growth technology companies.

According to East, the issue isn't starting a business, but rather expanding it, as there are greater pools of capital available in the U.S. He added that investor risk appetite in the U.S. is higher than in the U.K.

The British entrepreneurial community and VCs have been advocating for changes to capital market rules that would enable more investments from pension funds in startups and boost risk appetite in the U.K.

"While East expressed optimism that more of that could occur in the future, he cautioned attendees of the Cambridge event that businesses cannot guarantee it and must remain vigilant for any changes in the rules."

In 2020, Arm, whose chip architectures are used in most smartphone processors globally, went public on the Nasdaq in the U.S., dealing a significant blow to U.K. officials and the London Stock Exchange's aspirations to host more tech IPOs in Britain.

The company remains majority-owned by Japanese tech giant .