United Business Media (UBM) is to join a growing exodus of companies from the UK by shifting its tax base to Ireland, dealing a fresh blow to the Government’s tax policies.

The publishing and events group, a British company since 1918 which now generates 85 per cent of its earnings overseas, is expected to make a formal announcement within days.

The proposed move is part of a growing trend on the part of British companies to escape comparatively high domestic tax rates. This month, the board of Shire, Britain’s third-largest pharmaceutical company, said that it planned to move its parent company to Ireland to help to protect the group’s taxation position.

It is understood that UBM is planning the move to simplify its complex international tax position, not simply to benefit from lower corporation tax rates, which in Ireland stand at only 12.5 per cent compared with 28 per cent in the UK.

The FTSE-250 company, which employs 5,000 people in 30 countries, has large operations in Asia, continental Europe and North America. It will be domiciled in Ireland, although it is expected to maintain its headquarters in London, with no significant change in staffing levels.

UBM, which under Lord Hollick owned Express Newspapers, has become a global media company. It publishes 200 newspapers, magazines and directories including business-to-business titles such as Property Week. UBM specialises in titles for the medical, technology and construction sectors. It also operates websites and owns PR Newswire. In February, the company unveiled operating profits up 11.5 per cent to £166 million on revenues of nearly £802 million.

The Treasury has faced strong criticism in recent months on a number of tax issues, such as the abolition of taper relief on capital gains tax and its treatment of nondomiciled taxpayers.

Tax experts say that Britain faces mounting competition from other European countries, which seek to attract companies to base their headquarters in their jurisdiction.

A report by Ernst & Young last month claimed that the UK corporate tax rate was “being usurped by other locations, despite the forthcoming cut in the main corporate tax rate”.

The low rate of corporation tax in Ireland has been a key attraction for foreign companies in recent years. UBM joins Shire, Hiscox, the insurance group, and the computer games company Electronic Arts, all of which have left the UK for tax reasons.

Other blue-chip companies have been studying the idea. GlaxoSmith-Kline (GSK), the drugs group, is understood to have considered the possibility on a number of occasions in recent years but to have decided against it. Nevertheless, this month Jean-Pierre Garnier, GSK’s outgoing chief executive, issued a veiled warning to the Government over proposed changes to its tax regime.

He told The Times: “We value our roots in the UK, but the business environment has to be realistic and favourable so that it doesn’t impair our ability to compete globally.”

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