Cheney Hamilton

Cheney Hamilton started setting up flexible work recruitment websites after her own experience of wanting to work while raising children.

Her sites such as Findyourflex. co.uk and Mummyjobs. co.uk have been a lifeline for many who are juggling work and other

responsibilities, and employers who need their skills.

But with employers putting spending on hold during the pandemic, Ms Hamilton is struggling with the prospect that she may have to tell many of her workers that she can’t keep them on.

“The decisions you are making just before

Christmas – it’s horrendous, it really is,” she says.

Her business took a bounceback loan to invest in the business during the pandemic, hiring some more sales people and refreshing the site. But her team of 13 may now have to be scaled back down to just two.

“Employers are inundated with candidates,” she explains. “They don’t need to do creative recruitment.

“This is the last month we have money to pay everyone, so we are going to have to go back to just two of us keeping things ticking over.”

She is in talks with an investor, but there is no certainty over any agreement or the timing of it, and she has exhausted other avenues of support.

“You just feel impotent,” she says. “I know my business is strong and we could be helping so many other businesses convert to flexible working. But without support, you are really stuck.”

Ms Hamilton says she is lucky that her husband is a key worker, but she also needs to bring in an income.

“They have just built an Amazon delivery hub just outside of town,” she says. “We are probably going to have to take part-time jobs there – then that puts strain on the relationship as you never see each other.”