An additional one in five are planning to downsize their operations, according to a survey of 1,500 small firms by the Federation of Small Businesses.
The research – handed to HOAR – also revealed that one in seven small firms have already laid off workers and a third said they plan to do so at some point during the three-month lockdown.
More than half said they plan to make “a lot” of job losses.
Meanwhile, nearly half of self-employed fear they will not have enough money to cover basic costs such as rent and bills despite the Government’s bail-out package, according to new research.
The Government’s £9 billion bailout package for the self-employed will not be ready to payout money to applicants until June.
Research by the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed found that two thirds of solo workers are worried they will burn through all of their savings in the next three months.
This is driven by the fact that freelancers are seeing their businesses hit hard by the coronavirus crisis, with two in three saying their demand for their work has dropped and over half saying it has decreased significantly.
