Small business owners rely on their partners for support

According to research by Direct Line for Business (DL4B), more than half (51 per cent) of small business owners and managers rely on spouses and partners to help run their company. The research revealed that 46 per cent of small business owners and key decision makers rely on their partners to carry out general business administration while one in five (19 per cent) employ their partner as a receptionist.

In fact more than one in seven (14 per cent) trust their partners to look after legal and accounting services. A further 8 per cent look to their partners to carry out sales, marketing and new business generation responsibilities.They suggest their partners work on average two days a week (with one in four working three or more days a week), nearly a third (31 per cent) do not pay their partner any money at all.

Gareth Osborne said: “Small businesses are crucial in re-energising the UK economy. Partners have always been the unpaid directors and managers and this is where HMRC needs to be enormously more creative in allowing tax breaks to apply. In the current climate unpaid workers (of any type) are omitted from company insurance cover and therefore at risk should accidents occur.

"It is clear that small trade businesses are seeking voluntary help from their partners to avoid high legal, secretarial or IT support fees but it is vital that these businesses ensure their partners are adequately covered in event of an accident.”

The research interestingly showed that a small trade business employing less than five people typically has an average annual turnover of around £124,000. This makes it hard to sustain average UK salaries and national minimum wage.

APA