Midlands bosses split over royal wedding, says survey
Bosses in the Midlands are less likely to give their staff a day off for the royal wedding than their northern counterparts. According to research from Close Invoice Finance, just 54 per cent of Midlands’ employers plan to close the office on 29 April this year.
This compares with six out of ten employers in the North West and seven out of ten employers in Yorkshire and Humberside who said that staff would be given a day’s holiday.
Currently, businesses are under no obligation to give workers the extra day off. Almost two in five (38 per cent) of more than 500 bosses polled across the UK said they would open as usual unless the public holiday was passed into law.
Ian Steward, local head of Close Invoice Finance, said: “There is clearly an interesting North-South split but regional attitudes towards the wedding aside, most businesses are in a no-win situation. Many simply can’t afford to let employees take any unnecessary leave, especially those struggling to recover from the recession and also coming to terms with January’s big VAT increase.
“Cashflow in particular is crucial to a firm’s survival and when staff aren’t there the money still flows out and nothing is coming in.”
