British army of 1.7m entrepreneurial sole traders appear to be thriving with a quarter generating turnover of more than £51,000

November 7, 2013 Leave a comment

1.7m Britons are ‘one-man band’ firms

November 5, 2013

Nicole Blackmore

British sole traders appear to be thriving with a quarter generating turnover of more than £51,000. Britain’s army of entrepreneurial sole traders is thriving despite the current tough economic conditions, according to new research. Insurer LV= found there are 1.7 million “one-man-bands” operating in the UK. Some 27pc of these generate an annual turnover in excess of £51,000 and 5pc earn in excess of £150,000.This follows news last week that corporate insolvencies are down almost 8pc since the start of the year.

The number of self-employed Britons has risen recently sharply in recent years, particularly among older workers. Labour market economists have put this down to increasing difficultly to find permanent full-time employment. Some have argued that the expansion of self-employment has held the unemployment rate lower than it would otherwise be.
Mike Crane, a director at LV=, said: “This research shows that the British entrepreneurial spirit is thriving despite the economic uncertainty.”
LV= warned 11pc of these businesses – 180,000 firms – have no insurance cover in place. It found 21,600 business owners thought their home insurance would cover them as they work from home.
The reality is that most home insurance policies will not cover cash, equipment or stock stored in a home for business purposes, or any commercial public liability or accidental damage claims.
The growth of one-man band businesses has also caught the attention of the taxman. Last year, Chancellor George Osborne promised a crackdown on staff employees attempting to set themselves up as companies in an attempt to pay less tax.
HMRC also said earlier this year that it would target Britain’s 400,000 direct sellers, such as as Avon door to door sales staff, to make sure they were paying the right tax.

Filed under Macro Trends

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