Bank holidays are now an outdated concept according to Manchester’s SME community, with nearly all (85%) small to medium business owners admitting they will be working this Monday, and nearly a half (49%) claiming public holidays are irrelevant to modern business needs.
A poll of 500 SME owners and decision makers by LDF, the UK’s largest independent finance provider to SME businesses, has revealed that of those working next Monday, over a third of Manchester’s businesses (36%) will be doing so in order to deal with urgent email traffic, while that same figure again (36%) will be addressing their workload needs, which they simply do not have time to deal with during normal working hours.
The research also found that well over a third (41%) of SME owners and decision makers in the city take 15 or less days of holiday each year.
With three quarters (74%) admitting that they regularly work outside of traditional working hours, the findings highlight the true strain SME owners are under in Manchester. Over a half (52%) admitted that work concerns keep them up at night and 2am was cited as the peak “worry hour”. Over a third (34%) of small business owners are wide awake contemplating work related issues at this time.
As a result, LDF, the UK’s largest independent provider of SME finance solutions has launched the first online, 24 hour, self-service asset finance tool, lendinghive. Designed as a convenient solution for SME owners in need of finance when it suits them, the innovative platform offers a decision in minutes as opposed to the many weeks it can currently take via traditional sources, such as banks.
Those in HR (89%) are the most likely to be working this weekend, followed architects, engineers builders (87%) and healthcare professionals (86%).
LDF Managing Director, Peter Alderson, comments: “It’s clear that Manchester’s business owners are working long hours and they need access to finance outside of the standard nine to five access of traditional banking. For most of these businesses, bank holiday Monday is just another working day.”
We have introduced the 24 hour a day lendinghive platform to help alleviate these stresses, providing on-demand support and results in minutes.”
Tom Oswald from Sneaky Acts, a real time information app, added: “We regularly work bank holiday weekends. I don’t believe there is such a thing as a day off for SMEs, particularly when you are attempting to rival companies like Youtube and Instagram as we are.”
The UK’s top ten cities working this bank holiday are:
Brighton (95%)
Cardiff (94%)
Glasgow (94%)
Edinburgh (93%)
Manchester (85%)
Norwich (81%)
Southampton (81%)
Sheffield (80%)
London (79%)
Plymouth (75%)
