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Holiday blues hit small businesses

humyo poll reveals two-thirds of small businesses want Government to scrap rise in statutory holiday

UK - March 24, 2009

The UK’s small businesses are in the dark about the increase in holiday entitlement that comes into force on April 1.

Research by Saltaire-based Humyo.com, a specialist in online storage and file access for small businesses found that 65 per cent were unaware that the statutory minimum holiday allowance is going up from 24 to 28 days for all full time employees. [1]

When advised on the change, more than half (55%) of respondents suggested it would have a detrimental impact on their business. Employing almost half (46.8%) of the private sector workforce, [2] the increase will leave small businesses footing a bill for at least £1.9 billion. [3]

Two-thirds (63%) felt the increase should be scrapped in the current economic environment and almost half (47%) believed such a move would help them survive the recession.

[1] Survey based on responses from 150 small businesses, March 2009
[2] According to 2008 figures from the Federation of Small Businesses
[3] Please see notes to editor for full explanation

Executive quote

“Now is not the time to be saddling start-ups and small businesses with unnecessary regulatory burden,” said Dan Conlon, founder and managing director of Humyo.com. “ This is a decision that was taken under very different economic conditions and if the government is serious about stimulating business growth then it will need to reconsider its position on holiday entitlement.”

About the company

humyo.com was founded in January 2007 as a means to provide a safe and secure storage space for personal files, accessible through a computer or a mobile phone. humyo.com offers users 10GB of space for free to store and share anything from documents to music and video files, no matter where you are. It negates the inflexibility of leaving your data at home or at the office, and the risk of loss, theft or damage that comes from taking your files around with you in your pocket or on your laptop.
humyo.com takes all possible measures to ensure the security of user data including 256-bit encryption, firewalling, and a partitioned network. In addition, humyo.com's servers are stored in a former Bank of England gold bullion vault with bomb-blast corridors and blast-proof steel gates.

humyo.com was founded by Dan Conlon, a dotcom entrepreneur who sold his first business to Pipex, where he became MD of Hosting. The business is privately funded.

Supporting materials

Average 7.5hr day at minimum wage which is currently £5.73 = £43

An increase in 4 days for those employees will cost an employer a minimum of £172 per person.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) employment figures for February 2009 indicates the total number of people employed by the private sector in the UK is 23.61million. Small businesses currently employ 11,049,480 (SB1) people in the UK (46.8%) according to figures from the FSB.

An increase in 4 days for those employees will cost an employer a minimum of £172 (C1) per person.

SB1 x C1 = 1,900,510,560

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Holiday blues hit small businesses

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