Married to your business?

09 07 2008 United Kingdom

Owners of small enterprises often expect their businesses to last longer than marriage, according to a survey conducted for Barclays Local Business Banking

The average marriage in the UK keeps going for 24 years, says Barclays Local Business Banking, but over a quarter of enterprise owners (28 per cent) expect to run their business for more than 25 years. One in five said they plan to keep working well past the age of 70.

UK entrepreneurs also tend to stay loyal to their staff. Nearly a third (29 per cent) of those questioned have an employee on the books who has worked for them for at least ten years.

The survey also revealed that the average length of employment for an organisation’s first recruit was 5.3 years and two thirds of respondents still employ their first ever recruit.

Entrepreneurs who value stability in their personal lives are more likely to reflect it in the workplace. Respondents who had been in relationships for more than twenty years tended to employ their first recruits for nearly eight years - two and a half years longer than the national average.

Retention levels for the longest standing employee were highest in the South East at just under nine years. This figure drops to five years in London. On average, male bosses employed their first recruit for approximately a year longer than female bosses.

According to Barclays, confidence among the small business community remains strong despite growing concern about an economic downturn. Only a quarter cited the economic climate as a risk to plans for growth this year.

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