The EU is “one of the largest job destruction machines ever created”, according to serial entrepreneur and non-executive director of InterQuest Group, Luke Johnson.

Speaking at the launch of The Entrepreneurship Report to highlight the vital role of entrepreneurs in creating jobs, Johnson, best known for his involvement in Pizza Express in the 1990s, said the EU represented “a major challenge” to that vision.

“We must make the labour market a hell of a lot more flexible because that is the only way to create jobs,” said Johnson.

And ultimately he said this meant changing the mindset of EU bureaucrats. Johnson warned that failure to do so meant the EU and the UK faced decline under the twin economic challenges of India and China.

Among the key findings of the report, based on a survey of 170 entrepreneurs in London, and produced by the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry and law firm Mishcon de Reya, were:

- 62% of entrepreneurs are self-financed

- 26% use banks to fund their business

- 30% have no plans for growth in the next few years