UK founders lag Western Europe on AI adoption, bunq research shows
British business owners are among the least likely in Western Europe to be using artificial intelligence in their companies, despite government ambitions to position the UK as a leading adopter. New research from bunq, the GenAI‑powered digital bank, suggests a lack of trust and understanding is holding entrepreneurs back even as administrative work consumes large parts of their week.
The survey of 4,510 founders across the UK, Ireland, Spain, Germany and France found that just 51% of British business owners had used AI in the past year. Adoption was significantly higher elsewhere: 79% in Germany, 76% in France and 73% in Spain.
The reluctance comes despite widespread frustration with day‑to‑day bureaucracy. Two thirds of UK founders said administrative tasks take up a quarter or more of their working week, while nearly one in six reported spending more than half their time on admin.
This is not the initial paperwork of launching a business. Only 13% of respondents cited regulation and administrative burden as their main challenge, behind access to finance (24%) and simply getting the business off the ground (22%). Instead, founders pointed to the ongoing, never‑ending admin that accumulates once a company is running.
Asked what changes would make the biggest difference, British entrepreneurs were split between lower business rates (26%), easier access to finance (25%) and simpler tax filing requirements (24%). More than four in ten said the government either poorly incentivises entrepreneurship or actively discourages it.
When asked to identify the biggest barrier to using AI more widely, British founders were more likely than any other group surveyed to cite a lack of knowledge or trust. Thirty‑eight per cent pointed to uncertainty about how AI works or whether it can be relied upon — compared with 26% in Spain and 25% in France.
Cost was not a major concern. Only 26% of UK founders said price was their main obstacle, the lowest figure across all markets surveyed.
“Being sceptical about a new tool until you see the actual value is good business sense,” said Joe Wilson, Chief Evangelist at bunq. “Entrepreneurs juggle everything: finance, logistics, red tape… and that’s where AI needs to win them over, by taking the admin off their plate and giving them back their time to focus on their actual business, not paperwork. Tech should fit around the business you’re building, not the other way around.”
The research also highlights a sharp age split in the UK. Among founders aged 25 to 34, 73% had used AI in the past year. Among those aged 55 to 64, adoption dropped to 23% — a gap of 50 percentage points.
That divide appears to be uniquely British and Irish rather than simply age‑related. In Spain, AI use among founders aged 55 to 64 reached 62%, nearly triple the UK rate for the same group.
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