02/11/2026
You’re not following us to hear about the stresses facing small businesses. You’re certainly dealing with your own problems and pressures, and hearing me moan isn’t going to help much. I’d much rather these places be a haven AWAY from all of that.
But I cannot sit quietly and let this exist in the world without making a comment.
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‘Employers aren’t working people.’
Quite possibly the craziest thing I’ve ever heard said out loud.
I initially tried to be charitable. Perhaps it was just a clumsy bit of language? After all, large multinational employers certainly AREN’T working people. They’re HR departments, middle managers and shareholders.
Small independent retail and hospitality businesses are run by individuals who work ALONGSIDE their teams, not above them, at some comfortable distance.
I mop the floors every day in one gaff and polish glasses all night in the other. I clean b**r lines in one after deep-cleaning the glasswasher in another. I make cheese boards, clear tables, scrub kitchens and take the bins out at the end of the night.
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And the truth is, I’m not special or unique.
Every owner/operator I know works in much the same way. We take modest salaries, and sometimes none at all when the belts need tightening.
So not only are we working people, we're increasingly treated as though we're a bottomless pit of cash. A convenient source of revenue to be squeezed a little harder every time the sums don't add up.
Meanwhile, multinationals can shift profits offshore through perfectly legal arrangements that the likes of us could only dream of.
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To hear a Labour Treasury spokeswoman declare that employers aren't working people is deeply worrying, and frankly painful.
How f**king dare you.
Even if, as I suspect, it was a clumsy statement rather than a sincerely held belief, it speaks volumes about how small business owners are perceived, and how increasingly alienated we feel by this government.
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My 'employees' aren't simply employees. They're teammates, colleagues, collaborators and peers. People I work alongside, rely upon, learn from and will celebrate forever and a day.
We're in it together.
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Don't tell me I'm not a working person.
