Rick(37)

I was a senior software engineer at a company in Nijmegen earning €65,000 per year. Good salary for the Netherlands, but I knew UK salaries were higher. Via LinkedIn I was approached by a fintech scale-up in Leeds offering £95,000 for the same role. That was the trigger.

The company had a sponsor licence and arranged my Certificate of Sponsorship. The Skilled Worker visa application was streamlined: online form, biometrics at the VAC in The Hague, and within three weeks I had my visa. The Immigration Health Surcharge of £1,035 per year I paid upfront for the entire five-year visa period. The total visa costs were approximately £7,500 including everything.

Leeds surprised me. I had expected London, but my employer convinced me that Leeds is the emerging tech hub of the north. They were right. The city has a buzzing digital sector, with companies like Sky Betting, NHS Digital and dozens of scale-ups. Rents are a fraction of London — I pay £850 for a spacious two-bedroom flat in the city centre, including parking.

The UK tax structure is favourable for higher earners compared to the Netherlands. With £95,000 gross I take home more net than with €65,000 in the Netherlands. PAYE is the British payroll tax system — your employer deducts everything. I pay 40% tax on the portion above £50,270 (higher rate), but the first £12,570 is tax-free. I maximise my ISA allowance of £20,000 per year for tax-free saving and investing.

Pensions work differently from the Netherlands. My employer offers a workplace pension via auto-enrolment. The minimum is 8% (of which 3% employer, 5% employee), but my company matches up to 10%. I also froze my Dutch pension — SVB and ABP continue regardless. The UK has no wealth tax, which is a major difference from the Netherlands' Box 3.

After eighteen months I'm happy with the choice. Leeds is a great city — the people are down-to-earth and friendly, the Yorkshire Dales countryside is a thirty-minute drive away, and the tech community is growing fast. My biggest tip: negotiate your salary well. British employers expect it, and if they want to sponsor you they're willing to pay. The difference in net pay between the Netherlands and the UK can be enormous.