Revealed: Record number of Generation Z businesses planned for this year

A new poll reveals one-in-seven Britons, aged 18 to 24, plan to start their own business in 2021

As the COVID-19 pandemic wreaks havoc on the UK economy, the country’s young people are taking matters into their own hands, a new poll released on 21st January has revealed.

The poll of over 2000 British adults shows that one-in-seven (15 per cent) young people, aged 18 to 24, in the UK plan to start their own business in 2021. If they carry out their plans, this would result in a record-busting 800,000 new Gen Z businesses this year. Between 2018 and 2019, 390,000 businesses were started in the UK across all age groups.

According to Ed Surman, managing director of Mushroombiz, who commissioned the poll, the results show: “Young people leaving school and university are rejecting the shrinking job market to take back control of their futures from COVID-19.”

The OBR estimates that the UK unemployment rate will peak at 7.5 per cent in the middle of 2021 – representing about 2.6 million people out of work – up from about 4 per cent before the pandemic struck.

“This reality has forced many young people to re-evaluate their futures and become their own boss,” continued Surman.

Another poll, carried out by Yonder, formerly named Populus, found that around one-in-five (19 per cent) young people, aged 18 to 24, considered starting their own business for the first time last year.

The new polling also revealed that 13 per cent of Britons would start their own business if they had more spare time, while 20 per cent would become their own boss if they had more money.

Notably, the poll shows that across all age groups twice as many men (9 per cent) as women (4 per cent) plan to start their own business this year, while over one-fifth of Londoners (21 per cent) plan to become their own boss in 2021.

The news comes in spite of underlying concerns for the UK economy, with the poll revealing a majority of Britons (57 per cent) are not confident in the country’s economic prospects for 2021, with 45 per cent not confident in it over the next five years.