We’re partnering with Mental Health UK to support small businesses

Mental Health UK will help us develop a model offering support for small businesses, ranging from practical tools available to everyone, through to personal attention for individuals where needed. To make sure this support is as useful and tailored as possible, we’re first launching a survey together to find out about the issues our small business customers face.

Why we’re launching this partnership now

The pandemic has forced small businesses to endure even more challenges than in normal times – and certainly all SMEs have had to radically adapt in the wake of the crisis. This has undoubtedly shone a light on the mental health of the small business owners in particular, and their resilience in weathering the impacts on their businesses and employees.

What the data says

Although the mental health strains on SME owners have been exacerbated by the uncertainty caused by the crisis, their worries predate it.

• During the pandemic – according to a survey by the Corporate Finance Network – 71% of their members’ SME clients felt ‘more stressed and anxious than usual’, with 14% ‘unable to cope’.
• Even pre-pandemic, more than six in ten SME leaders reported that cash flow concerns kept them awake at night.

smallQuoteThere’s a growing need to help business owners look after their mental wellbeing, and we care about helping them to do that.

"Running a business is tough at the best of times,” said Seema Desai, our COO. “Now the crisis has brought even more stress and pressure to many business owners. So there’s a growing need to help business owners look after their mental wellbeing, and we care about helping them to do that.

It was very important for us to form this partnership with Mental Health UK so that we can develop the UK’s first ever mental health support programme designed specifically for SME owners. We’re doing research to help us get a deep understanding of what their needs are, and then we’ll develop really tailored support that will bring real benefit to business owners.”

Take the survey to help us shape our mental health help programme

We’re trying to find out about the mental health of small business owners up and down the UK so we can tailor our support.  If you’d like to help, get started by filling in this survey.

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