One in five (18%) small business managers who work typical Monday to Friday 9-5 jobs are expecting to work during the bank holidays this festive season, according to research conducted by Everline, as part of its Small Business Tracker.
The most popular day to work this Christmas period is New Year’s Day (13%), with Boxing Day a close second (12%). Over half (51%) of these small business decision makers are planning to work to avoid getting behind, but 42% are also concerned about losing potential business and 34% do not have other staff with the correct skills to cope on their own.
Interestingly 18-34 year olds are the driving force behind this activity – they are twice as likely to work on New Year’s Day (22%) and Christmas Day (11%) and almost three times as likely to work on Boxing Day (23%) than their older counterparts. The most popular reason for this amongst 18-34 year olds was that their business doesn’t have other staff with the correct skills (42%) and a significant 28% said that they do not trust other employees to handle the business on these days. The research illustrates the changing attitudes of small businesses towards the traditional working weeks, as well as highlighting a potential skills shortage amongst small business employees.
Russell Gould, Managing Director, Everline commented: “Small businesses have been and continue to be the driving force behind the UK’s recovery. Their commitment to succeeding is illustrated by their plans to work over the festive period. However, the underlying issue is that many of these small businesses managers do not feel like they can delegate the work to their employees. While small business owners should be applauded for their dedication and hard work, it is evident that skills remain an issue and as a result, they are being forced to take on responsibility for a greater range of functions which could be delegated.”
