The founder of BrewDog has claimed that entrepreneurs will abandon Britain if capital gains tax is increased.

James Watt, the founder of the brewery and pub chain, told Sky News that a significant rise in the tax “will do far more damage to our economy” and deal a hammer blow to the prosperity of every family.

Mr Watt, who stepped down as chief executive of BrewDog in May amid controversy over staff wages, also claimed that any increase in the tax would lead to lower tax receipts.

He said: “People who start businesses – they also pay national insurance, PAYE for their team, corporation tax.

“We really need the job creation. We need investment in our economy. We need economic growth. So it would be so anti-business to disincentivise that.”

While the entrepreneur said he wouldn’t leave his native Scotland if that tax was increased, he warned that other entrepreneurs, particularly those in the technology sector, would leave Britain for places like Dubai.

Capital gains tax on the sale of shares and other assets is currently set at up to 20%. It is expected to rise by several percentage points in the 30 October budget.

Only about 350,000 people a year pay the tax, but they contribute £15bn in tax receipts, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

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But not all share Mr Watt’s analysis of the result of a potential increase in the tax rate.

The Institute for Public Policy Research argued this week that raising capital gains tax would not reduce investment or impact entrepreneurship.

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It suggested the measure could raise £14bn and actually encourage economic growth.

This public battle is one of many playing out in the lead-up to what is being billed as the most consequential budget in decades, with a chorus of voices trying to influence government policy on taxation.

Baillie Gifford, the Edinburgh-based fund manager, has told staff to return to full-time office working, the latest in a string of employers to cool on pandemic era remote working practices.

Sky News understands that Baillie Gifford’s roughly-1,800 employees were notified in a video call several weeks ago that they were expected to attend its offices rather than working from home.

The move is said to have drawn a mixed response, with some staff unhappy at the edict.

A person close to Baillie Gifford, which has assets under management of about £230bn, insisted that the instruction to work from its offices did not amount to a blanket ban on remote working.

A spokesman for the firm said: “In a recent video update to all staff, they were asked to come into the office on their working days, unless there’s a sensible reason not to.

“But of course we maintain a degree of flexibility for all staff, as we always have done, pre-pandemic.”

Many large companies have shifted their guidance to staff in a similar way in the last two years, although a substantial proportion continue to permit some form of hybrid working.

Baillie Gifford has become an increasingly prominent investor in the last decade, having placed big bets on some of the world’s biggest technology companies, including in China.

It was also at the centre of controversy earlier this year when its sponsorships of the Hay Festival and Edinburgh International Book Festival were cancelled amid protests over some of the firm’s investment practices.

The firm is structured as an unlimited liability partnership with 58 partners.

3i Group, the listed private equity group, has picked bankers to sell the pet food manufacturer behind leading brands including Applaws.

Sky News has learnt that 3i has appointed Harris Williams to handle an auction of MPM four years after it bought a controlling stake in the company.

Based in Manchester, MPM was founded in 2002 and focuses on branded premium pet food products.

Its other brands include Encore and Reveal.

3i invested roughly £125m in MPM in November 2020 alongside the company’s management team.

A sale, which would be likely to take place sometime in 2025, would be likely to rank among 3i’s biggest exits for years.

The FTSE-100 investment group has come under growing scrutiny in recent months as its most valuable holding, the Dutch-based discount retailer, occupies an increasingly dominant place in its portfolio.

Shares in 3i have risen by two-thirds over the last year, and the company now has a market capitalisation of over £32bn.

Its soaring stock price has drawn attention from short-sellers who believe that Action is now overvalued by the firm.

3i and Harris Williams declined to comment.