The ex-boss of Google says Britain beats the US at e-commerce

Eric Schmidt, the former boss of Google and the now-chairman of Google's parent company Alphabet, says Britain beats the US when it comes to e-commerce.

Schmidt told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Britain's "right regulatory environment" as well as the fact it works within the European Union's single market initiative allows entrepreneurs to flourish and for businesses to grow at a steady rate.

Here are some highlights from his BBC interview (emphasis ours):

"Britain is the leader in e-commerce in the world, far ahead of the United States. Britain has every aspect to build billion pound, ten billion pound, hundred billion pound companies.

"You have the right regulatory environment. You've got the right role within [the European] continent. [Just] look at the e-commerce plays and service plays that are now happening in London.

"Europe is pushing on a European digital single market and in the time frame of you building a small startup, the Europeans will figure out a way of building a single digital market for your products."

What was also interesting in the interview was the fact that Schmidt suggested how US organisations tend to be a little more patient than their UK counterparts.

He said that US companies can become "very, very big" because "if you have a strong franchise that's growing quickly, you're probably better off waiting a while [before selling].

He said this lesson could "easily be learned in Britain" as UK entrepreneurs tend to sell up a lot earlier in the company's developmental process.

Google knows a lot about this. It became so huge that in October this year Google officially became Alphabet.

Google announced in early August that it planned to blow up its corporate structure by forming a new parent company to allow its different businesses to operate independently and move faster.