Even if you do not have children, you will be aware that the schools have broken up for the summer holidays.
That realisation may come when you find the roads eerily quiet on your morning commute or when you find town centres full of little voices in the middle of the day.
Financially, this time of year can be erratic for businesses as the habits of a significant portion of the population shift dramatically for a six-week period.
It is worth bracing for highs and lows at the outset of the summer holidays to ensure that you do not arrive in September with a burned-out workforce and a hole in the budget.
Will the school summer holidays help or harm your business?
There is a range of factors that will determine whether the next six weeks are set to be promising for your business or something that will need to be endured.
The type of industry in which your business operates is the clearest sign of the impact of the school summer holidays.
Hospitality and leisure businesses will likely benefit from increased footfall, boosted by the good weather and the impact of the Great British Summer Saving Scheme – the temporary reduction in VAT rates for eligible services.
Transportation businesses and hauliers may find the quieter roads advantageous if deliveries and routes are carefully planned to make the most of the absence of school traffic.
Even retail businesses that rely on footfall for revenue are likely to feel the benefit of an increased presence of families looking to fill their time over the next few weeks.
However, Business-to-Business (B2B) industries are less likely to have a stress-free summer as the school holidays bring additional challenges that impact the productivity of workers.
Childcare arrangements must be made by employees who have dependents to ensure that they can continue working.
Unlike with the stability of school, summer holiday clubs, babysitters and relatives have a higher risk of cancelling arrangements at short notice or finding it challenging to handle unforeseen situations.
This can result in an increase in absences and a decline in productivity as these issues are managed.
It is worth noting that this still affects women more disproportionately than men, as research continues to demonstrate that women are societally expected to tend to childcare issues even alongside employment.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 has mandated the eradication of the Gender Pay Gap from 2027 and the misalignment of childcare responsibilities undoubtedly plays a role in its continuation.
This summer holiday should reveal to businesses what challenges face their staff and budgets ahead of fully adopting the legal framework being rolled out.
How do businesses make the school summer holidays less stressful?
If your business is set to face a boost in revenue, getting expert accounting support can ensure that it paves the way for a more prosperous rest of the year.
Having a firm grip on budgets and financial forecasting can help with knowing when to reinvest additional funds and when they are best kept as working capital.
For businesses that are set to face a productivity dip, accounting support can take some of the edge off.
Recent research has found that 98 per cent of employees feel that employer-sponsored nursery places help office attendance and 91 per cent note that holiday clubs improve focus.
Businesses should consider the ways that investing in staff can improve productivity and maintain revenue even as times are more challenging.
Establishing provisions during the school summer holidays can be a good way of determining the effectiveness of an approach that will assist with tackling the Gender Pay Gap before it is legally necessary to have a plan in place.
However, this will need careful management of budgets, hence the benefit of having an expert accountant on your side.
Our team can help review your position so that you are well-equipped to provide the necessary support for employees to keep them an active part of the team over the summer.
We can also support with payroll if there are sudden absences that need to be reflected on the next payslip.
However your business is set to be impacted by the school summer holidays, we are here to help you make it through to the autumn.
Get in touch for full support with managing the financial stress of the school summer holidays on your business.
