NEWS

Release date: 9 October 2009

Over 325,000 businesses or 44% of small and medium-sized businesses, in the South East are based from home rather than an office or other workplace.

According to research* published by Business Link this month:

• The main reason for being based from home is the ability to keep costs low - cited by 53%
• 6% of those surveyed became home based in response to the downturn
  This means than an extra 19,500 SMEs are now based from home.
• Nearly half are under the £68,000 VAT threshold
• 53% of home based businesses are single person SME and 84% of sole trades are home based

The main disadvantages of working from home cited by those surveyed included a difficulty in separating work from home and being self-reliant. Over a third of home based SMEs have joined a network or membership organisation which may help to combat these issues.

Rosemary French, Business Link, comments, "According to the research, the overwhelming reason for being home based is to keep costs to a minimum and some 19,500 South East businesses moved to working from home in response to the downturn. Business Link supports businesses in all situations, free of charge. We encourage business owners to contact us to meet an experienced and qualified Business Link Adviser to discuss their business issues".

To support you Business Link has produced a free 'Guide to running a business from home'. The Guide draws on the experience of other home-based businesses and explain the practical actions you can take today to ensure your business thrives. Download the Guide at www.businesslink.gov.uk/southeast/homebusiness.

*Survey of 437 small and medium sized home based businesses in the South East