PRIME Initiative

Eight per cent of UK adults now want to start a business in retirement, according to a YouGov poll commissioned by Standard Life. And 85 per cent do not intend to stop work after they reach retirement age.

YouGov surveyed the opinions of 2,100 adults broadly representative of the UK population. A third (33 per cent) of respondents wanted to continue in full-time work after they reach retirement age. Roughly another third (31 per cent) wanted to carry on in a similar role but on their own more flexible terms. While eight per cent wanted to start their own business.

Commenting on the findings, John Lawson from Standard Life said “Quite simply, people do not get old like they used to. The baby boomers started a trend for redefining what is effectively their ‘third age’ and these findings point to a continued trend for re-writing the rule book for younger generations.”

The full report is not yet available at the time of writing but it should appear on the Standard Life site shortly.

See also Baby boomers don’t want to retire says pension firm.

PRIME has published Generations Forgotten, a study into attitudes to older people as entrepreneurs based on an independent survey of a thousand people.

The study demonstrates the difficulties the over 50s have in finding work as employees, principally because of ageist attitudes - which the over 50s clearly perceive as still rife. And it highlights the key role self-employment plays in making it possible to remain financially independent.

The results also show that there is an interest in self-employment on a huge scale among older people. But government local and national still seems to have a youth-centric attitude to enterprise which is inappropriate in an ageing society.

The survey reveals that there are far more people aged over 50 who are interested in enterprise than generally thought. One person in six in the 50-64 age cohort has considered it. Some 15 per cent of the over 50s polled had already started a business, with 4 per cent starting a business since turning 50.

Clearly self-employment will remain a vital lifeboat for the over 50s for as long as they continue to be discriminated against in the regular job market.

The production of this report has been funded by the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, one of the first fruits a larger ongoing partnership between PRIME and the foundation.

Download full press release (Word)

Download Generations Forgotten report (PDF),

Barbie has joined the ranks of the 50-plus, an event celebrated in characteristic style with an immediate facelift. Plastic surgeons at Californian-based manufacturer Mattel have given the world’s most famous doll “a more natural look, including a thinner jaw line, more almond-shaped eyes and fuller lips”.

It is notoriously difficult to judge people’s ages nowadays, as by and large people are looking much younger than their parents did at the same age. This doesn’t seem to prevent the all-too-common tendency by employers and some advertisers to lump all over 50s together as a single group, putting Baby Boomers and their elderly parents in the same category (often the same scrapheap). The mistake is to ignore the real differences in age, attitudes and ability to work between distinct generations.

In tune with today’s celebrity climate, let’s attempt to correct this by identifying some famous people born in the main years of the post-war boom. There are some surprises!

Selected Baby Boom celebrities by year of birth

1945: Ken Livingstone, Helen Mirren, Debbie Harry, Bryan Ferry, Rod Stewart - all 64 this year.

1946: Joanna Lumley, Susan Sarandon, Alan Rickman, Sylvester Stallone, Bill Clinton - all 63 this year.

1947: Alan Sugar, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Hillary Clinton, Salman Rushdie, Glenn Close, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Elton John - all 62 this year.

1948: Prince Charles, Ozzy Osbourne, Samuel L. Jackson, Sven Goran Eriksson, Terry Pratchett - all 61 this year.

1949: Twiggy, Bill Nighy, Richard Gere, Duncan Bannatyne, Arsene Wenger, Martin Amis - all 60 this year.

1950: Richard Branson, Jeremy Paxman, Julie Walters, Bill Murray, Stevie Wonder, Robbie Coltrane - all 59 this year.

1951: Gordon Brown, Kevin Keegan, Michael Keaton, Jane Seymour, Sting all 58 this year.

1952: Vladimir Putin, Jenny Agutter, Sharon Osbourne, Liam Neeson -
all 57 this year.

1953: Tony Blair, Victoria Wood, Kim Basinger, Pierce Brosnan, Keith Allen, William Petersen - all 56 this year.

1954: Bob Geldof, Michael Moore, Annie Lennox, John Travolta, Jackie Chan - all 55 this year.

1955: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Bruce Willis, Kevin Costner, Ian Botham, Alan Hansen, Lesley Garrett - all 54 this year.

1956: Rowan Atkinson, Kim Cattrall, Mel Gibson, Martina Navratilova, Sebastian Coe - all 53 this year.

1957: Stephen Fry, Paul Merton, Daniel Day-Lewis, Dawn French, Donny Osmond - all 52 this year.

1958: Madonna, Prince, Sharon Stone, Michael Jackson, Kate Bush, Lennie Henry, Viggo Mortensen, Marg Helgenberger, Miranda Richardson - all 51 this year.

1959: Hugh Laurie, Theo Paphitis, Deborah Meaden, Ben Elton, Morrissey, Linzi Drew, John McEnroe, Kevin Spacey, Val Kilmer, Rupert Everett - all 50 this year.

1960: Nigella Lawson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Carol Vorderman, Hugh Grant, Sean Penn, Gary Lineker, Colin Firth, Antonio Banderas, Michael Stipe, Bono, Richard Farleigh - all 49 this year.

1961: Barack Obama, Barry McGuigan, Eddie Murphy, K D Lang, Meg Ryan, Nastassja Kinski, Boy George, Frank Bruno, George Clooney, Heather Locklear, Michael J Fox, Peter Jackson, Robert Carlyle, Sarah Brightman, Tim Roth, William Hague, Woody Harrelson - all 48 this year.

Perhaps even more suprising are some of those born in 1969, who will all be 40 this year - Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jennifer Aniston and Jennifer Lopez.

Worth a read: Advice for Barbie at age 50

Pension giant Standard Life has produced a very interesting report called The Death of Retirement. The key findings are that the current generation of older people are very different to their parents. Above all they want to keep doing things. Baby boomers want to travel, work - and even launch new business ventures. Retirement in its traditional sense is not a concept that appeals to them at all.

“Currently society constrains people into a post-65 mindset which is at odds with their ambitions”, says Honey Langcaster-James, psychologist and one of the report’s authors. “Government, society, industry – particularly the financial services industry, use entirely the wrong language.

“The messages currently conveyed to the next generation approaching third age imply slowing down, being less involved in society, being cautious, risk averse and preparing to be less active.

“Ageism is endemic and could have severe implications for the mental health of third agers because it will ultimately frustrate their ambitions.”

“A huge potential resource is left untapped by not engaging this population, drawing on their expertise, their drive to embark on new ventures and pursue society-enhancing activities such as voluntary work and enterprise.”

Honey Langcaster-James, psychologist

Large survey

The report is based on a large survey of 1,500 people aged 46 to 65 of broadly representative wealth living in the UK. It was then repeated among another sample of 1,000 people from the same age group but representing the wealthiest six per cent of society. So two contrasting groups of normal and great wealth were polled.

Setting the scene, the report says that people from this baby boom generation face a future in which they are likely to be more financially burdened than ever before. They may have to provide for parents who will live a long time and for children who may be financially dependent well into adulthood. This financial burden goes alongside having greater ambitions than any previous generation for their own future after the age of 65.

When asked about their intentions regarding working in the “long-term future”, 30 per cent of the sample representing the normal UK wealth range said they wanted to continue to be involved in work - but on their own terms. This rises to 42 per cent for the wealthier group, who were also asked what their own parents did. Only 15 per cent of parents continued to stay involved in work after retirement. This indicates a massive change between the generations.

When asked about starting a new business, six per cent of the sample of 46-to-65 year-olds of normal wealth want to embark on a new business venture in the future. There was only a slight increase to seven per cent among the wealthier group, so wealth does not seem to be a major factor affecting this aspiration. But the passage of time has certainly produced a change. Among their parents’ generation this aspiration was much less common - seven times less at retirement age.

“It is not that those approaching retirement want to stop working. As our research reveals, baby boomers want to remain active. The challenge for government, society and the financial services industry is how to enable them to remain productive to answer the dilemma of our ageing workforce.”

John Lawson, Head of Pension Policy at Standard Life

It’s widely recognised that our population is ageing, the main cause being the post-war baby-boom.

According to figures released by the Office for National Statistics last year (see ref 1), between 2006 and 2031, the overall population of England is set to rise from 50.76 million to 60.43m, a rise of 19.1 per cent.

However, the number of people of pension age is projected to increase by a much higher rate than this; over this same period, the number of women aged over 60, and men aged over 65 (ie current retirement age) is set to rise from 9.46m to 14.96m - a rise of 58 per cent.

Naturally, authorities are extremely concerned by the increasing costs of supporting older people, particularly pensions, healthcare, social services and housing.

Government is taking measures to tackle this challenge, including a gradual increase in pension age, which starts next year, the biggest impact being for women’s retirement ages.

For a man or woman aged 30 on 1st March this year, they will both work for longer, and will be aged 68 when they reach State Pension Age; however, for a woman who reaches her 50th birthday on 1st March this year, she would be aged 65 before she can draw her State Pension, whereas for a man of the same age, there is no change.

You can get your own projection here. 

These changes in State Pension Age will have a big impact on our working age population; this is currently women aged 16 to 59, and men aged 16 to 64. Pension Age changes across England will bring 2.53 million people into the working age population, who, without these changes, would be retired.

So what support is needed to help older people remain in work? We know that currently, 28 per cent of those aged 50 to State Pension Age are out of work, compared with just 20 per cent of those aged under 50 (see ref 2 below). We also know that employment rates drop off sharply the closer people get to retirement age (see ref 3).

This is why PRIME, a national charity founded by Prince Charles in 1999, helps people look at self-employment as a way of continuing to earn, and remain economically active. Self-employment rates are much higher for the over 50s than their younger counterparts, with around one in five (18 per cent ) working in this way, compared with 11 per cent for the under 50s.

The over 50s also appear to have much better business survival rates than younger people (ref 4), so with careful research and planning, this could be an option that gives people more control over their working lives, and the choice of retiring when they want.

We know from the people we talk to daily that many are looking for more flexible solutions than they can find on offer through traditional employment, and that’s assuming they can even find job opportunities. A lot of people over 50 have care responsibilities for both elderly parents and grandchildren; many have health conditions that require a change in working patterns, and some only want to work part-time.

In today’s economic climate, with rising unemployment, redundancies continually in the headlines, and less jobs on offer, people do need to consider different options, and that’s where organisations like PRIME come in. We are very aware of the challenges self-employment presents, particularly to someone who has spent all their life as an employee, and often in the same organisation.

There’s a lot of help and information on this website , but if you can’t find what you’re looking for call us on 0800 783 1904.

References 

1 ONS, 2006-based subnational population projections by broad age-groups and old age dependency ratios.

2 Annual Population Survey, ONS, Jul 2007-Jun 2008

3 Nigel Campbell, “Decline of Employment Among Older People in Britain”,
Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, 1999

4 Cressy and Storey (1995) show survival rates after six years amounted to 70% for businesses with owner/managers over 55, while the average rate for all start-ups was only 19%.

5. Findings from: The Economic Impact of Ageing on Entrepreneurship and SMEs by M. Peters, R. Cressy, D. Storey May 1999. Warwick Business School. Study initiated and financed by the Forward Studies Unit of the European Commission.

Today’s unemployment figures released by the Office for National Statistics paint a worrying picture for those aged over 50.

In the last year (Dec 2007 to Dec 2008), as highlighted by the national media, unemployment in the UK has risen from 1.6m to 1.97m - an increase of 370,000 people.

This increase is made up of 296,000 under 50s and 74,000 over 50s. What’s particularly worrying for the over 50s is that the increase is 31.5 per cent, against just 21.6 per cent for younger working-age people.

This now means that of all unemployed people, the number aged over 50 now represents 15.5 per cent of the total, as against 14.5 per cent a year ago. What’s more, once on Jobseekers Allowance, younger people tend to get back into work quicker than the over 50s, resulting in a higher proportion of older people becoming long-term unemployed.

It’s interesting to note that employment figures have seen an increase of 86,000 from those who are of pension age, 50,000 of whom are women. Is this an indication that more older people want to, and are capable of, work beyond our current State Pensions ages? Or is it through necessity, with devalued pension funds, badly performing savings, and inadequate State Pensions?

Nationally, around 20 per cent of working over 50s are self-employed, and benefit from better business survival rates than younger people, mainly through life experience and better planning & research.

So this can sometimes be a solution to continuing to work in today’s economic climate, and achieving the flexibility to fit around other commitments.

Joint PRIME / Bank of America News Release: 27 November 2007
Embargoed until: 00.01am 1 December 2008

Bank of America and PRIME - Working Together to Support the Over 50s to Find Opportunity in Enterprise

LONDON - Research published today, commissioned by Bank of America on behalf of The Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise (PRIME), provides new insights into the realities faced by older entrepreneurs in the UK.

The research was commissioned to mark the launch of a groundbreaking £2 million three-year partnership between the Bank of America Charitable Foundation and PRIME. It aims to unlock entrepreneurialism in the over 50s in the UK by helping this group get back into employment through setting up their own businesses. The partnership will focus on helping those over 50 realise their potential, challenge direct discrimination and enable more people to capitalise on their talents.

Bank of America’s partnership with PRIME forms part of the company’s new approach to community investment in the UK, myPotential myCommunity myEnvironment^TM, that focuses on building skills, unlocking and nurturing talent and increasing entrepreneurialism in marginalised communities.

The research shows that 16 per cent of those aged 55 to 64 have considered, but not realised, their ambition of establishing their own business, with 23 per cent wanting more relevant support to help them do so.

Older entrepreneurs are becoming increasingly important to the UK economy. The number of businesses launched by people aged over 50 has increased by half over a period of 10 years and this age group now accounts for 15 per cent of all business start-ups in England and Wales¹.

“We need to see a fundamental shift in attitudes towards older people …”

Laurie South, PRIME

Laurie South, Chief Executive of PRIME said: “We need to see a fundamental shift in attitudes towards older people and society needs to be more open to the talents and invaluable experience older people can provide to the UK. Through our new strategic partnership with Bank of America, we can continue to build our organisation to provide practical and financial support to even more over 50s throughout the UK.”

As the economic downturn continues to threaten employment opportunities for older people² the need for increased support remains critical. 54 per cent of the 50+ age group currently seeking work feel that the current challenging financial environment will have a detrimental effect on their employment prospects.

The benefits of investing in the 50+ age group is underlined by research showing that 70 per cent of businesses started by people over 55 are on average still operating after six years, compared to just 19 per cent overall³.

“We are delighted to be partnering with PRIME …”

Dennis Arnum, Bank of America

“We are delighted to be partnering with PRIME on such an innovative and significant platform in the UK,” said Dennis Arnum, Bank of America Chief Operating Officer for Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.  “The ageing demographic across Western Europe, and globally, brings with it significant challenges for society, governments and businesses alike. Our partnership with PRIME will create opportunities by unlocking the barriers to enterprise and releasing the entrepreneurial talent and wealth of experience within our community.”

As part of the partnership, Bank of America will also provide counselling through its employee business mentoring programme.

Each business that PRIME helps establish will provide a host of other comprehensive socio-economic benefits for the UK - including greater levels of wealth and job creation and a reduction in dependence on state benefits. Transferring one per cent of the economically inactive over 50s into self employment creates at least 25,000 new jobs and results in savings in welfare payments of £175 million⁴.

PRIME is strongly supported by the government who are working alongside the charity to realise the above benefits.

“There is no age limit on entrepreneurial spirit.”

Peter Mandelson, BERR

Secretary of State for Business Peter Mandelson said: “There is no age limit on entrepreneurial spirit. During the current economic climate it is even more vital that older people have the confidence to make their business ideas a reality.”

“We are currently working with PRIME, Business Link, Enterprise Insight and the Regional Development Agencies to make clear the business support available for older people, be it in starting a business or becoming self employed.”

- Ends -

Notes to Editors:

About the research

A full breakdown of the research referred to above is available on request.

Unless otherwise indicated, all research was gathered by GfK NOP during November 2008. This consisted of a nationally representative omnibus survey of 1,000 adults aged 16 and over. This included 472 respondents aged over 50.

1, 3 & 4 - Improving employment prospects for the over 50s, Christopher Smallwood and Linda Obiamiwe, PRIME (January 2008)

2 - Recent CIPD and KMPG research revealed that in light of the economic downturn almost one in five employers say that they are going to enforce the Government’s retirement age policy - which allows UK organisations to make workers over 65 redundant without having to provide a business reason for doing so - more vigorously. Redundancy fears haunt labour market, Chartered Institute of Personnel Development and KMPG (31 October 2008)

About PRIME

There are 3.6 million people in the UK aged 50-65 who are not in employment. Unemployed people over 50 suffer the highest long-term unemployment rate. But an estimated 800,000 people currently classed as ‘economically inactive’ could return to the work-force if barriers to employment were overcome. Of those older people who feel at a disadvantage in the job market, a staggering 81 per cent say the attitude of employers to their age puts them at an automatic disadvantage. PRIME was founded to address these issues and in 2007 helped more than 1,000 over 50s return to work.

For more information about PRIME, please visit: http://www.primeinitiative.org.uk

About Bank of America

Building on a long-standing tradition of investing in the communities it serves, Bank of America will embark in 2009 on a new, ten-year goal to donate US$2 billion to charitable organisations engaged in improving the health and vitality of its communities. Funded by Bank of America, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation gave more than US$200 million in 2007, making the bank the most generous financial institution in the world. Bank of America approaches community investment through an international strategy called ‘neighbourhood excellence’ under which it works with local leaders to identify and meet the most pressing needs of individual communities. Through Team Bank of America, employee volunteers contributed more than 650,000 hours in 2007 to enhance the quality of life in their communities nationwide.

For more information about Bank of America Corporate Philanthropy, please visit: www.bankofamerica.com/foundation.

Reporters May Contact:

Laurie South, PRIME, +44 (0)20 8765 7833 or +44 (0)7778 271412

laurie.south@ace.org.uk

Elizabeth Wood, Bank of America, +44 (0)20 7174 4441

elizabeth.wood@bankofamerica.com

Ros Hunt, Cohn & Wolfe, +44 (0)20 7331 5442

ros.hunt@cohnwolfe.com

The International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research has an article about PRIME in the current issue. It puts information about PRIME and the (anonymised) results of surveys of the people who contact PRIME in front of an academic audience - particularly those interested in the literature on entrepreneurship.

The report was part-authored by Laurie South of PRIME, but the lead author was Professor Teemu Kautonen of the Department of Management at the University of Vaasa in Finland, who is a recognised authority on older enterprise. Dr Simon Down is Senior Lecturer in Management at Newcastle University Business School, and deputy director of the Centre for Knowledge, Innovation, Technology and Enterprise at the University.

The publisher’s abstract and publishing details are below. The paper can be obtained for a charge from Emerald - or via the inter-library loan scheme (generally free to most students and University staff though there may be quota restrictions).

Title: Enterprise support for older entrepreneurs: the case of PRIME in the UK

Author(s): Teemu Kautonen, Simon Down, Laurie South

Journal: International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour & Research

Year: 2008
Volume: 14
Issue: 2
Page: 85 - 101

Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Price payable: GBP £13.00 plus handling charge of GBP £1.50 and VAT where applicable.

Abstract: Purpose – The objective of this paper is to examine the potential for and barriers to older enterprise as well as the role and contribution of specific enterprise support policy, focusing in particular on socially disadvantaged older people.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes the form of a single case study of the Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise (PRIME) with multiple data sources, including a synthesis of current literature, PRIME self-evaluation reports, interviews with PRIME personnel and results of a recent survey of 283 individuals who had contacted PRIME for enterprise advice and support.

Findings – The paper finds that, with respect to older enterprise support policy, the tentative results presented in this study seem encouraging in terms of a positive social and economic role for older enterprise support work. However, due to the limitations of the data, a number of questions need additional clarification in future research. Longitudinal research designs are required to investigate in more detail the additional social benefits generated by older enterprise support as well as concerns regarding deadweight and over-investment.

Originality/value – The paper brings the experience of enterprise support practitioners into the debate about older entrepreneurship.

Go to article

PRIME and its sister charity PRIME-Cymru have jointly published a report into improving the employment prospects of the over 50s.

“It is worth putting real money behind a drive to re-employ economically inactive over-50s”, says the report’s lead author Christopher Smallwood.

“In order to reintroduce them to the workforce, two things are needed: (1) widespread changes in employers’ practices relating to training, retention and recruitment, and (2) a more proactive approach from Government agencies to help people back to work, particularly in the area of self-employment.”

Some 800,000 people between 50 and state pension age are currently inactive but want to work, according to Smallwood’s analysis of the available data. The UK has a total of nine million people in this age group. At the moment one in three is workless, and one in seven on Incapacity Benefit.

“There is a huge wealth of skill and experience amongst the over 50s that UK business could benefit from tapping into”, says PRIME’s Chief Executive Laurie South. “Not enough is being done to reduce worklessness among the over 50s. Despite an increase in the number in work, the number not working is actually growing - and will continue to grow as the UK’s population ages. So effective government action is sorely needed. ”

“Meanwhile, self-employment remains the best option option for many of the 800,000 individuals eager to work. It’s something you can do for yourself. You don’t have to wait for government.”

You can download the full report and the executive summary from the links below.

“Improving Employment Prospects For The Over 50s”, by Christopher Smallwood and Linda Obiamiwe, published by The PRIME Initiative, January 2008.

Christopher Smallwood is a leading UK economist, and has held a wide range of senior positions in government, industry, banking and media. He is a Member of the Competition Commission, a Trustee of the charity UnLtd (founded to support social entrepreneurs) and until April 2005 he was Chief Economic Adviser to Barclays plc. Previously he was Chief Economist and Strategic Development Director at TSB Group and before that Chief Economist at BP, Policy Director of the SDP and Economics Editor of The Sunday Times.

Some 800,000 people between 50 and state pension age are currently inactive but want to work, according to a new report commissioned by PRIME and written by leading economist Christopher Smallwood.

The majority of new businesses are created by people in their forties and fifties - indeed business owners aged over 50 account for 15 per cent of all business start-ups in England and Wales.

Companies started by older people have a 70 per cent chance of surviving the first five years, compared with only 28 per cent for younger people. Yet the report finds that finance for Jobcentre’s New Deal self-employment programme for the over 50s has been reduced.

“It is worth putting real money behind a drive to re-employ economically inactive over-50s”, says the report’s author Christopher Smallwood.

“In order to reintroduce them to the workforce, two things are needed: (1) widespread changes in employers’ practices relating to training, retention and recruitment, and (2) a more proactive approach from Government agencies to help people back to work, particularly in the area of self-employment.”

The report says that there are still a greater number of complaints about age discrimination in the workplace than about any other form of discrimination. However, the solution does not necessarily lie in more legislation.

What is required, argues Smallwood, is a change in attitudes and practices of employers both in the public and private sector, together with a greater focus on the possibilities for self-employment.

Self-employment also has an important role to play. A self-created job can put an individual back in control of their lives and build on the skills, experience and knowledge acquired over a life-time.

However, for people coming off benefits some significant poverty traps remain that make test trading difficult. “The confusion with HMRC needs to be resolved very quickly”, says Smallwood. At the moments it’s “confusing even to the advisers trying to explain the system”.

Smallwood report full text

Smallwood report executive summary

Christopher Smallwood is a leading UK economist, and has held a wide range of senior positions in government, industry, banking and media. He is a Member of the Competition Commission and until April 2005 he was Chief Economic Adviser to Barclays plc.

PRIME has published “Encouraging older entrepreneurship” a report on how best to help older people starting or running their own businesses. It looks into the support needs of those entering self-employment after the age of 50, and at what PRIME and its partners can realistically do to help.

The study coincides with an unusual period of turmoil in the business support sector. Major changes in how support is funded and who provides it have unintentionally created new difficulties to individuals seeking to start their own businesses.

The production of this report, written in-house by PRIME, has been partially-funded by the Equal Diversity in Practice project, which is in turn paid for from the European Social Fund.

Only half of Britain’s small firms have a web site, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). But ALL of the visitors taking part in a recent mini-poll over on our other site PRIME Business Club either had a web site or planned one.

Does your business have a web site of its own?

• Yes 48% (22 votes)
• No - it doesn’t need one 0% (0 votes)
• Not yet but planning one 52% (24 votes)

Source: visitors to www.primebusinessclub.com

The two sets of figures may be compatible. Both polls show an approximately 50:50 split between web-site haves and have-nots. The different interpretations put on this may be like the proverbial half-empty or half-full glass.

Those commenting on the FSB poll have tended to take a half-empty view, decrying small firm’s lack of Internet ambition.

But since the PRIME poll also asked whether people were planning to set one up in the future, it is possible that the missing web sites may only be temporary - just something that people haven’t got round to yet.

Many of PRIME’s visitors have good reason to wait, as they haven’t yet set their businesses up either, or have only done so recently. So they may have other things to get sorted out first, before leaping into cyberspace.

If anything the mini-poll shows a vivid awareness among older entrepreneurs about how valuable a web site can be in business, with none of them saying it isn’t needed.

Yell.com has published a very encouraging piece of research into businesses started by older people. The survey focuses on business owners over 50 who have set up in the last five years, who it calls “senior startups”.

Overall this is a strikingly contented group, with 44 per cent of respondents reporting that they are now happier than they’ve ever been. Around a third of all respondents (30 per cent) say that they love their work, and (61 per cent) say they regret not having set up on their own earlier.

More than half (53 per cent) say that the key piece of advice they would give to other over-50s would be to “go for it”.

Other findings include:

• The average turnover of the people polled was £67,500 per year, with most working alone from home
• Most have no thoughts of retirement and see their business as their pension plan – more than two thirds (71 per cent) want to run their business for as long as they are able
• Businesses within this group tend to be financed by savings – with only 13 per cent funded by bank loans

Only 16 per cent of those questioned had run their own business before, with 41 per cent having worked in a completely different field before setting up on their own. Almost one in five (19 per cent) of the female respondents were not working immediately before setting up their businesses.

More details of the research along with tips and case studies are on Yell’s the people behind the numbers web site.

Disclosure: PRIME has a connection with this study through Professor Mark Hart, who did the analysis and who is a member of PRIME’s board of trustees (the equivalent in a charity to a company’s board of directors).

Mark, who is Professor of Small Business Research at Kingston University as well as a PRIME trustee, comments “This research adds greatly to our knowledge of the over 50s’ contribution to enterprise in the UK. There is now clear evidence that the entrepreneurial activities of this diverse group are capable of providing sustainable incomes.”

The over 50s are little studied compared to younger entrepreneurs, but are known from other evidence to account for one in six of new businesses in the UK.

About a quarter of the people who have contacted PRIME over the last two years kindly filled in a form giving some details about themselves. The responses have now been analysed and here’s what you told us.

The results were independently analysed for PRIME by Professor Mark Hart from Kingston University Business School.

The purpose of this kind of formal monitoring exercise is twofold. Firstly it re-assures our supporters that PRIME, a charity, is reaching the people it should be reaching. And secondly it enables us to spot gaps where we should be doing more.

Of course this isn’t the only way we get feedback. Indeed, you are very welcome to email us at any time or post comments in the forums.

Two thirds (67 per cent) of sole traders have no plans for the future of their businesses in the event that they become incapacitated or die, according to research conducted by MORI for Barclays Financial Planning.

Planning for such contingencies is more common among those over the age of 55, but even among this age group 25 per cent had yet to make any plans for the future of their business should anything happen to them. Almost half said they felt it was “too soon to think about it”.