One In Three Lockdown Brits Dream Of Becoming An Entrepreneur

Work-life balance, disliking current jobs and finding it hard to be managed motivates two million people to launch a ‘side project’ during lockdown.

• UK’s entrepreneurial spirit stronger than ever, as lockdown three inspires a 19% increase in companies created compared with the same period in 2020
• One in five (20%) who have their own business launched it from their living room, with a further one in seven (14%) setting up from their bedroom
• Although research suggests women are less confident about setting up a business than men, 41% of Virgin StartUp founders are women, more than double the national average
• In the mainland UK, the North East (39%) is home to the most budding entrepreneurs, followed by the West Midlands (36%) and London (35%)
• More than one in three (36%) believe they would need support with funds to make their start up dream a reality
• Virgin StartUp celebrates having funded its 4,000^th founder, Carley Read, CEO & Founder of parent-to-parent digital marketplace, Y’earn

21st May 2021: Today, Virgin StartUp releases new research to celebrate funding its 4,000^thfounder. Virgin’s not-for-profit entrepreneurial hub reveals that one in three (33%) Brits dream of becoming an entrepreneur and would like to set up their own business.

According to the study, approximately two million (5%) people have started a side project during lockdown.⁽¹⁾ A further one in four (24%) said that although they don’t currently have a passion project, they would be interested in starting a business alongside their main employment.

Wanting to be your own boss is amongst the main motivations for becoming self-employed (49%), alongside a better work-life balance (45%), disliking existing jobs (17%), and finding it hard to be managed (14%). And it seems as though home is the place that sparks the most creativity, as one in five (20%) who have their own business launched from their living room, with a further one in seven (14%) setting up from their bedroom.

The COVID-19 economic reality seems to be accelerating entrepreneurialism. As the UK entered lockdown on the 23^rd March 2020, the number of businesses set up almost halved, with a -43% drop compared with the same week in 2019.⁽²⁾ But confidence started to recover in May 2020 after the announcement that lockdown would lift from June, as the number of new businesses launching bounced back dramatically (from 9,989 to 14,525 within a week following the announcement).⁽³

From May 2020 onwards, the average number of businesses set up per week during 2020 was 30% higher than the same period the year before, jumping from 12,446 in 2019 to a huge 16,157 in 2020.⁽⁴⁾ And it seems as though the UK’s entrepreneurial spirit is now stronger than ever, with an average of 15,751 businesses set up in Q1 this year – an increase of 19% compared to the same period in 2020.⁽⁵⁾

In 2019, Virgin StartUp announced its 50/50 pledge to fund an equal number of women and men founders. In the last week before the first lockdown, this rose to a peak of 47% women founders receiving funding. When the pandemic hit, the first six weeks of lockdown saw this drop down to 23%, demonstrating the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on women who were looking to start and scale businesses. Thankfully, the number of women founders has risen again as 52% of applicants in April 2021 were women, more than double the rate seen in those first six weeks of the pandemic.

The study reveals that 26% of women are concerned that they don’t have the relevant skillset to start a business, compared with 19% of men. Since it was founded, Virgin StartUp data shows that 41% of its founders are women, compared with the national average of 20%, so a huge number of women entrepreneurs have been seeking expertise and funding⁽⁶⁾.

This includes Virgin StartUp’s 4,000^th founder Carley Read, founder of Y’earn, a parent-to-parent marketplace to rent baby & kids items from people and small businesses in the local community.⁽⁷⁾

Carley says:

“I am extremely grateful to discover I’m Virgin StartUp’s 4,000^th founder. Starting a company during a pandemic isn’t easy, but I really believe that Y’earn is more necessary than ever. Thanks to the support from the Virgin StartUp loan and the team’s advice, I’ve been able to get my business off the ground. I’d definitely encourage other entrepreneurs to look to Virgin StartUp’s diverse range of services to help them make their idea a reality too!”

In line with the government’s plan to level-up, the figures reveal a regional spread of budding entrepreneurs, with the North East home to two in five (39%) people dreaming of starting a business, the highest of all regions in the mainland UK, followed by the West Midlands (36%).

But in order to make start-up dreams a reality, it’s clear that people would turn to entrepreneurial experts for assistance, as needing support with funding is the primary consideration (36%), followed by needing help understanding business finances (33%) and wanting support and mentoring from other entrepreneurs in the same field (23%).

Andy Fishburn, Managing Director of Virgin StartUp, comments:

 “The pandemic has allowed people to refocus on what’s important to them. It has also provided essential time and space to develop ideas, so it’s been amazing to see more and more founders getting creative in a crisis. It’s so encouraging to be working with so many people trying to make a difference at the moment by bringing innovative ideas to the table.”

To apply for a Virgin StartUp Loan between £500 – £25,000 and to find out more about support on offer, please visit virginstartup.org

Notes to editors:

Unless otherwise stated, all figures taken from omnibus research carried out by One Poll on behalf of Virgin StartUp. This was an online poll of 2,000 UK adults (nationally representative sample). The research was conducted between 22^nd April to 27^th April 2021.

1. According to the omnibus research carried out by One Poll, 5% of people set up a side hustle during lockdown. 5% of the 41.7million, the total UK working-age population aged 16-64 according to the ONS, equals 2,085,000
2. According to Companies House data released on 8^th April 2021, incorporations fell from 15,501 in week 13 of 2019 to 8,770 in week 13 of 2020. The dataset includes figures recording the number of weekly company incorporations in the United Kingdom. Companies House operate the official register of all limited companies in the UK and track the number of additions and removals from that register over time. A company incorporation is when a company is added to the Companies House register of limited companies. This can also include where an existing business applies to become a limited company, where it wasn’t one before.
3. According to Companies House data, as above, incorporations rose from 9,989 in week 19 of 2020 to 14,525 in week 20 of 2020, the weeks either side of the first lockdown lifting announcement on 10^th May 2020.
4. According to Companies House data, as above, the average number of incorporations per week between weeks 20-52 of 2020 was 16,157. This is compared to the average number of incorporations per week between weeks 20-52 of 2019 which was 12,446.
5. Q1 refers to weeks 1-12 inclusive. According to Companies House data, as above, the average number of incorporations per week between weeks 1-12 of 2021 was 15,751. This is compared to the average number of incorporations per week between weeks 1-12 of 2020 which was 13,215.
6. https://www.virginstartup.org/news/virgin-startup-commits-5050-pledge
7. Y’earn is a peer-to-peer marketplace to rent items from people in your community or make money from things you don’t need right now. https://www.yearn.club/uk/babyandkids
8. According to the omnibus research carried out by One Poll:

 About Virgin StartUp:

Virgin StartUp is the not-for-profit entrepreneurial hub of the Virgin Group.

Virgin StartUp helps founders start and scale early-stage businesses in the UK, by providing business advice, access to funding, entrepreneurial mentoring and a series of programmes to help founders develop the skills they need to build better businesses.

As a leading Delivery Partner of the Government-backed Start Up Loans Programme, Virgin StartUp provides access to funding between £500 – £25,000 to help founders start or scale early-stage businesses in England or Scotland.  Every founder who receives a Start Up Loan through Virgin StartUp is matched with their own mentor and receives a programme of post-funding support for 12 months as part of Virgin StartUp’s ‘Funded Club’.

Since launching in late 2013, Virgin StartUp have distributed over £54 million to thousands of founders around the UK. For more information, please go to www.virginstartup.org

Key stats and figures:

• Virgin StartUp has funded 4,000 businesses since 2013, distributing £54 million of funding in that time.

• Virgin StartUp has funded over 2,380 (60%) millennials age 22 – 36 and has distributed £31,079,601

• 74% of the businesses supported by Virgin StartUp are still trading after three years, outperforming the national average of 54%. Women-founded businesses have surpassed this with a 76% survivability rate (compared to 73% for male founders).

• Trading businesses funded by Virgin StartUp (excluding the loan recipient themselves) employ on average three other people; meaning around 9,000 jobs have been created through the organisation to date.