‘On Christmas Day we’ll be wondering if the family business will survive’

Former NHS nurse Rachel Morgan, 46, took over the running of her family’s dress shop in Warrington in 2018 after her mother-in-law died.

In her first year at the helm she almost doubled the shop’s sales. But she said her Christmas would be marred by the thought that, after 40 years of trading, the family business might not survive the new year.

She was unable to apply for a self- employed support grant as she earned more from employed work when she took over the shop in 2018 – even though she has been a sole

Sole trader and dress seller trader for the two years since. Business picked up over the summer when shops were allowed to reopen, but since then she has only sold four dresses, she said.

“I took only £ 180 in October, which is normally a booming month. I’ve taken out a loan and been using savings to get by,” she added.

“What I find so hard is that I have paid a lot of tax in my life and have an £8,600 tax bill to pay in January, yet I get nothing.

“We’ll be pretty much having a year off from Christmas this year as I don’t see much point in celebrating.”

She said she had applied to administer Covid-19 vaccines to earn some extra cash.