The latest figure is an average increase of almost 3 hours per week compared to this time last year. Overall Britain's 1.4m small businesses are collectively putting in a staggering 31.2 million extra 'working weeks' each year. For many small business owners, the burden is only likely to increase with a quarter (26%) believing that they will have work longer hours for the remainder of the year as a result of the economic climate.
Among those who experienced the highest levels of annual growth last year, the average working week is significantly higher than those performing less well. For those growing at over 10% a year the average working week is 52.3 hours.
The survey also shows that the increasing work burden is having a detrimental effect on stress levels. Seven in ten (71%) small business owners claim to feel stressed by running and managing their business, compared to only half (54%) last year.
Other findings from the work-life balance survey show that the considerable hours being invested by Britain's entrepreneurs are biting into other aspects of their lives, as a quarter (24%) of small business owners are not even likely to take a full week's holiday this year.
