'I'll need to put up prices': Self-employed workers on Autumn Statement
- Published
Nathalie Selvon-Bruce runs an events company in Croydon that hires out VW campervans and beetles
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has announced cuts to National Insurance and a rise for the minimum wage in his Autumn Statement.
The government says changes to National Insurance will save the average self-employed person £542 a year, without affecting their NI contributions record or benefits entitlement.
After a tricky few years of battling high energy bills, rising food prices and other challenges during the cost-of-living crisis, self-employed workers have been particularly badly hit by the pandemic fallout.
As of March 2022, there were around 4.2 million self-employed workers in the UK, external - a sharp drop of a million since 2019 - with the number of women in self-employment at its lowest since 2016.
This is what some of Wednesday's announcements mean for them.
Stretched finances
Claire, who owns a hairdressing business in Truro, Cornwall, employs 10 people in her salon and says a rise in the National Living Wage (minimum wage) from £10.42 to £11.44 an hour is a concern.
"We really need to sit down and think how we're going to make it work," she says. "At the end of the day, we do need to find that money."
The hike is going to cause a rise in costs throughout her business, she told BBC Radio 5 Live, as her very experienced staff will want to earn more than their colleagues who are newer to the job. She also warns that the need to pay higher wages could put some employers off hiring more people.
With expensive energy bills, Claire says her finances are already stretched. Eighteen months ago, she was paying £1,200 a month but this has now come down to around £700 - "and we don't use a lot of heating because we have hairdryers".
'My plan is to expand'
Camden, 24, is a barber in Great Yarmouth
In Great Yarmouth, Camden, a 24-year-old barber with his own shop, is positive about the future of his business.
Camden opened his shop in January after previously paying over £250 a week to rent a chair at a barbers in nearby Norwich. He praises cuts to business rates announced on Wednesday, and says rates have been "extortionate" in his area.
"My plan is to expand and it would help me buy the bigger parts, barber chairs - even just furniture," he told BBC Newsbeat.
Craig Brothers, owner of design agency Affari and Six Degrees Associates, who is also a board member of the Chamber of Commerce, says the statement had "snippets of positivity".
"A National Insurance cut is helpful from an employer point of view," he said. "We constantly hear that recruitment filling is a challenge, and there were a couple of initiatives that could help."
Nathalie Selvon-Bruce hires out ice cream vans and camper vans
Nathalie Selvon-Bruce, who owns Buttercup Bus Vintage Campers in Croydon, says the last few years have been a struggle and this latest announcement is overwhelming as a small business owner.
Rising costs are already stretching her finances and eating into profits, she says, despite business booming again after Covid.
Nathalie hires a lot of her vehicles out to wedding couples and says she often gives initial quotes 18 months in advance. She's worried she won't be able to stick to these costs when changes from the Autumn Statement come into force.
"The stark reality is I will need to put prices up to find funds to increase wages," she says. "I'm already absorbing the impacts on fuel and electricity rises - we're looking at seriously running at a loss in the year ahead to match quotes."
She says fuel is a "big challenge" for vehicles but also for powering freezers in her company's ice cream vans.
"The cost is astronomical. In the winter, it's cheaper to get rid of ice cream stock and shut the freezer than to keep it."
Nathalie agrees with Claire about the pressure to increase wages to make sure experienced staff feel valued.
'Done nothing for my family'
Mark Johns, 59, from Manchester, is a self-employed decorator
Mark Johns, a self-employed decorator from Manchester, says he is "devastated" by Mr Hunt's plans, saying the chancellor has "done nothing for my family".
The 59-year-old says he has had to reduce his rates by as much as 30% just to get work, as the cost-of-living crisis means people do not have the disposable income for home improvements.
"I'm probably earning less than I did seven years ago," he says, adding that changes to National Insurance will not help him as they only help those whose earnings reach the threshold to pay the tax.
He says he saved £50,000 over the last 30 years ready for his retirement but says this is all gone just to keep afloat in the last four years.
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