By Jason Tassie

This festive season, while consumers enjoy twinkling lights and one-click deliveries, Britain's small businesses are quietly absorbing extraordinary economic pain to try and keep the show running.

Christmas exposes a fundamental truth about our economy. SMEs have become Britain's economic shock absorbers, they are silently carrying inflation and workforce burnout with hardly any recognition or support.

Even so our high street retailers, hospitality owners, and delivery drivers keep serving customers with a smile.

From April 2025, employers faced a triple hit: National Insurance rising from 13.8% to 15%, the threshold slashing from £9,100 to just £5,000 per employee and the National Living Wage climbing 6.7% to £12.21 an hour.

The best period for retail trading (the so-called golden quarter) delivered fool's gold in 2024 with retail sales

© LBC