Unrest on the streets of Britain has hit small business owners hard. The riots in the UK this summer are a distant memory for most of us, but for some small business owners, both directly or indirectly affected, they are still dealing with the aftermath.
At the end of July, the fatal stabbing of three young girls at a dance class in Southport at the beginning of the school holidays set in motion a change of events which the UK hadn’t seen since the riots of 2011. The London riots back then saw four days of violence across towns and cities in the UK. The cost was estimated to have been between £200 – 500m in lost trade and policing. Around 2,000 mostly small, independent businesses were affected which led to five deaths and saw properties and shops across England destroyed. The cost of the summer 2024 riots is yet to be fully assessed but it isn’t just the physical cost which is important, it is the psychological impact on both society and business.
If we concentrate on small business owners in the UK concerning the unrest, it is easy to dismiss it as ‘only a few shops across the UK were looted and vandalised’. However, the cyclical nature of the business world around supply and demand means that many other small businesses will have been affected behind the scenes. Small businesses have been fighting economic instability for a number of years, and these riots come at a time when most businesses with a shopfront high street presence are struggling. Those shops will have seen their customers stay away during the unrest, and if they did suffer physical damage, they may not have been able to reopen. Some will have found that their insurance policies do not cover this type of issue. I heard that others may not have had insurance due to affordability issues as businesses struggle to stay afloat. Then we have the issue of suppliers to those shops. If the shops aren’t trading due to damage or otherwise, the suppliers cannot supply and they won’t get paid. It is therefore not just the obvious shop fronts that are affected when civil unrest happens on our streets.
Small businesses rely on footfall. For those not in towns and cities affected by the violence, they may be relying on tourism. After the 2011 riots, the research agency TNS polled travellers in Germany, France and the United States. It found that up to 42 per cent of travellers saw Britain as less appealing to visit after the troubles then. A drop in visitors to the UK could affect small businesses exponentially. Travel and tourism contribute an estimated 237.1 billion pounds to the British economy. Tourists spend money in local businesses when they visit. But It isn’t just the reduced footfall which might affect SMEs. If the reputation of a country as a place to visit is compromised it could also lead to a feeling of distrust in doing business with companies here.
Finally, let’s talk about the psychological impact of civil unrest on small business owners. As we mentioned, civil unrest affects consumer confidence, but there is also a mental strain being felt by entrepreneurs whilst they try to navigate these turbulent times. It is a pretty heavy burden to feel like your business is not safe, and it can lead to business owners feeling helpless. In small businesses, there is often one person at the helm, making the decisions and dealing with the stress. The ongoing pressures of running a small business, especially in unstable times can lead to emotional exhaustion and burnout. Despite the resilience that most business owners have – after time this can be eroded if they are dealing with the constant anxiety of survival. Adding civil unrest to the situation could tip some business owners over the edge. Indeed we saw some shopkeepers in parts of the UK saying that they would probably not reopen as the repair work needed on their premises was going to cost too much.
Moving forward, small business owners must be aware that there is business support available to them, and it is important not to isolate themselves but instead get out into the community and foster those connections. Now is the time to open dialogues with people who can help and support you both in your local and wider community. There are also business associations, mental health groups and peer groups that all small businesses can access. Challenges are there to be overcome. It takes a village …
