Our ingenious 'side hustlers' deserve tax help from Hunt

WITH the Budget looming, SMEs are asking for meaningful support that reflects their contribution to UK GDP — estimated at about 52%. But while the Government articulates the importance of our SME businesses it rarely matches this with measures to help them.

- Stefan Allesch-Taylor

There is one fast-growing “small business” segment that particularly needs backing — the “side hustle”.

On the rare occasions I have been invited to government meetings to discuss entrepreneurship, and how to make the UK a more inviting place for it, one thing I am sure of is that no one in those meetings really knows what an entrepreneur is.

They think the people who run the 44 “unicorn” start-ups in the UK are entrepreneurs — and they are. But they are not the only ones.

Unicorns are start-ups with $1 billion-plus valuations, often justified more by promises than profits. I am not knocking them; they have their role. Sadly, though, government never seems to get beyond the glamour of these loss-making mythical beasts.

Meanwhile, the growth of side hustles has been fuelled by the cost-of-living crisis. The under-35s are now faced with a shockingly high obstacle when trying to build their lives. Inflation, rising interest rates, sky-high property prices, and uncertainty on job security is a cocktail from hell for many.