Three quarters of London small business owners say work worries keep them awake at night

More than three in four small business owners in London say they lose sleep over the many challenges facing their firms, according to a new survey.

Research from Novuna Business Finance revealed that 79% say they take home worries about everyday business issues that keep them awake at night.

The biggest single concern is the impact of economic volatility and geo-political uncertainty, with 50% citing this, a figure that is likely to rise further following recent events in Iran.

London-based small business owners said they worried at night about the prospect of further tax and interest rate hikes (37%) - a worry that has increased among small business owners since the National Insurance hike for businesses that took effect last April.

These worries come at a time when the percentage of London small businesses that predicted growth for the first three months of 2026 rose to 40%, well above the national average of 27%).

But it appears growing a business in a volatile and challenging climate can be stressful for business owners – as this month 31% of London business owners said they had broken sleep at night, worrying about retaining existing business.

Managing cashflow (23%) was also a worry, as were the business rates kicking in next month (20%).

Hiring skilled staff was also a worry for London business owners with 17% mentioning employee shortages and 11% worrying about recruitment.

At a time when the UK Government is considering an EU reset, forging closer ties with Brussels, the research also indicates that around one in seven small business owners in London still feel the impact of Brexit on their business, with 19% saying worries over legacy impact of Brexit to their business still keeps them awake at night.

The findings are part of the Business Barometer study from Novuna Business Finance, which asked 1,000 business owners which worries kept them awake at night

Joanna Morris, head of insight at Novuna Business Finance said: “At the start of 2026, we saw a rise in London’s small business growth outlook. That said, our latest data suggests that this comes at a human cost for many business owners, many of whom take their business worries home with them and struggle to switch off.