1 in 6 UK small business owners takes zero full days off i

Page updated: 13 Aug 2026

Whole-practice growth for wellness practices. Rooted in Wiltshire, UK, working worldwide.

Practices selling rest, calm and balance to other people are, according to this claim, not managing much of either themselves.

Original Research	A statistic, quoted rather than generated, suggesting a meaningful share of small business owners never fully disconnect from work across a year.
Source	https://www.enterpriseresearch.ac.uk/our-work/publications/
Overview	The Enterprise Research Centre's 2025 small business report mentions the figure in passing, crediting it to fintech brand Tide, with no methodology attached to either party.
Year	2025
Publisher	Brand claim (via Tide), repeated by Enterprise Research Centre
Relevance to Wellbeing	One industry source suggests a large minority of small business owners take zero proper time off, which would matter to wellbeing practices if it could be verified.
Our Verdict	Too early to tell a plausible-sounding number with nobody standing behind it, so treat it as a talking point, not a fact.
Our Summary	The idea rings true, which is why it's been repeated by a respectable-sounding academic centre. There is no named survey, no sample size, and no methodology behind the figure at all. The Enterprise Research Centre didn't generate this number themselves, they borrowed it. It fits comfortably alongside better-attributed burnout research, which does exist elsewhere.
Our Geo View	Applies broadly to all countries

Abstract of wellbeing niches and revenue flow

Recognise how this might impact your practice

Why this might matter to you

Coaching: this matters because a coach who never switches off is a hard sell as a work-life balance expert.
Therapy: this matters because clients notice if their therapist looks more depleted than they do.
Training: this matters because trainers preaching recovery days while working every one of theirs invite the obvious question.
Alternative Healing: this matters because "restore your energy" loses some force delivered by someone who hasn't had a day off since March.
Clinical: this matters because clinics running on founder exhaustion tend to lose the founder eventually, not just the odd Saturday.
Retreat/Centre: this matters because a retreat owner who can't retreat themselves is a fairly quotable irony.

Where this came from

A 2025 report on small business Britain, put together by the Enterprise Research Centre, mentions a striking claim about owners never taking full days off, but the claim itself belongs to Tide, not the researchers.

Enterprise Research Centre, "State of Small Business Britain 2025". Publish date otherwise unspecified. The figure appears to be secondary-sourced within the report, borrowed from Tide with no further citation offered.

Credibility flags: no methodology disclosed, sample size not disclosed, publisher type is a mix of academic centre and unattributed brand claim.

How we scored this

A relevance score out of 100, built from three things: how well it fits the six practice types, how recent it is, and how solid the methodology behind it is.

40%

Practice fit, 25How new, 100How solid, 0

Marked down heavily on how solid the method is, since nobody has said how the number was arrived at, though it scores well on how recent it is and reasonably on practice fit, since it concerns small business owners generally rather than wellbeing practices specifically.

It's worth considering changes to your marketing practices

What this means for your marketing

Don't quote the "1 in 6" figure as fact, quote it as "an industry claim" if you use it at all.
Put your own actual annual leave record somewhere visible, since a number you can stand behind beats a number you can't.
Say plainly, if it's true of you, that you're addressing your own working pattern before someone else asks.
Brief your team not to repeat the 1 in 6 stat as verified research in newsletters or social posts.
Save this one for a "here's a claim doing the rounds" post rather than a "here's the proof" post.

Who this is most useful for

Practice type	Relevance	Recommended action
Coaching	Medium	Mention the claim cautiously, focus messaging on your own demonstrated boundaries.
Therapy	Medium	Use it as a conversation starter about therapist self-care, not as evidence.
Training	Low	Skip the stat, keep the recovery-day messaging grounded in your own practice.
Alternative Healing	Low	Avoid citing it directly, lean on personal testimony instead.
Clinical	Medium	Reference founder burnout generally, without naming this specific figure.
Retreat/Centre	Medium	Use the theme, not the number, when talking about owner rest.

Best before: revisit if the Enterprise Research Centre or Tide ever publish a proper methodology behind this figure, or check back for the 2026 edition via Enterprise Research Centre.

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One In Six Small Business Owners Reportedly Never Take A Day Off