One in five small business owners pay themselves less than the minimum wage.
This according to research by the NatWest Small Business Research Team.
But its quarterly survey of small businesses also showed more than 90 per cent of employees were earning more than the minimum wage rate of £4.20.
It said 20 per cent of small business owners pay themselves less than the minimum wage and the figure rises to 38 per cent for firms with an annual turnover of less than £50,000 a year.
One-third of the female business owners in the survey estimated they earned less than the minimum wage, compared with less than one-fifth (18 per cent) of the male owners.
The lower-paid small business owners also seemed to be isolated to certain sectors, particularly hotels and restaurants.
Almost half (49 per cent) admitted they were earning less than £4.20 an hour.
Wednesday March 26 2003
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