Small businesses suffer with rising costs, Vodafone steps in to help

Vodafone has said that it will give a year’s free broadband to small businesses signing up for a 24-month contract. This is accounting for the rising costs of living, inflation and impact on small businesses.

Ten per cent of UK small businesses anticipate business closures in 2023. The year is expected to bring financial duress with costs of fuel and power rising by 57 per cent. Staff wages are expected to rise by 34 per cent while rents and mortgages rise by another 32 per cent.

Vodafone reported that small business owners are now working a 46-hour week on average, or 10 hours more than the national average, and that most expect to have to put in even longer hours in 2023 to make ends meet. There are over 5.5m small businesses in the UK, and according to government reports, they make up to 99.9 per cent of the country’s business population.

With costs of broadband rising by another 32 percent, Vodafone’s scheme is set to save small businesses over £348 through the year.

Andrew Stevens, Head of UK Small and Medium Business at Vodafone commented on the scheme saying “SMEs are the beating heart of the UK economy and will be essential in helping strengthen our economy, we all therefore have a responsibility to ensure we are doing everything we can to help them thrive and survive.”

Read more at City A.M.