Small businesses are the lifeblood of the UK economy – but there’s little question the ongoing pandemic threatens to change the landscape forever.
While the realities of 2020 and early 2021 have sent most organisations reeling, few have felt the far-reaching effects more keenly than the UK’s independent business owners. A study earlier this month by The Federation of Small Business (FSB) reported that, without further financial help, 250,000 small businesses are set to close in the coming year.
Adding to the complications of new post-Brexit trading rules, paperwork and an ever-changing set of virus control restrictions is the impact of homeschooling. A report last year from The London School of Economics (LSE) concluded that COVID was widening the gender pay gap, due to women taking on the brunt of childcare and home education while schools remain closed.
For the women running their own businesses, this whirlwind of adversity has resulted in one of the most challenging years imaginable.
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