Jacqueline Winstanley, Disability Power 100 Judge and Founder of Universal Inclusion
This year at the Disability Power 100 we heard calls from Shaw Trust and the Minister of Disability for greater equity. As a judge my call to our government is for a Paradigm Shift to change the narrative from the seeing the disability employment and pay gap as a welfare issue – within which disabled people are seen as burdens on the public purse – to one of positioning disabled people as leaders in the creation of innovation and enterprise and to effectively resource them to do so.
The Disability employment and pay gaps remain stubborn despite repeated national initiatives to redress this imbalance. Sadly, through no fault of their own disabled people – who make up one-fifth of the population – who are not in work are often cited as significant drains on public finances. They are increasingly drawn into the realms of sanctions and or face a reduction in the vital practical elements they need to enter or remain in the workplace. While I would not want readers to switch off at the very mention of statistics; there is a wealth of evidence provided from practitioners, academics and policy makers as to why this remain the case.
There are a multitude of factors underpinning the disability employment and pay gap. Indeed, the Lawton Smith, H., Winstanley, J., et al. 2023 The Road to Wonder. A study exploring the barriers and opportunities to creating innovation and enterprise by disabled people. Oxford, UK:Innovation Caucus cites the difficulty getting into and remaining in employment as a key factor in disabled people starting their own businesses and reframing the landscape.
We know that 14% of businesses are created by disabled people; compared to 12% non-disabled entrepreneurs. And these businesses bring benefits. Which is why campaigning for effective resourcing of disabled people to be the leaders in creating innovation and enterprise is critical. By outlining not just the barriers, but showcasing what this sector looks like and what is its contribution to the economy.
Our study showed the key barriers that disabled people face when creating innovation and enterprise. This coupled with the work of the APPG for Inclusive Entrepreneurship (APPGIE), chaired by Dr Lisa Cameron, the Inclusive Entrepreneur Network, CIMR Birkbeck, Shaw Trust and Savvitas, we have seen some significant moves forward in removing these barriers but there is still a long way to go.
Taking each barrier in turn we would also like to introduce you to some of the Disabled Entrepreneurs within the Disability Power 100 giving insights into their journey, the barriers they faced, how far they have come and the benefits not only to themselves but society as a whole as a direct result of the innovation and enterprise they are creating.
Perception and Discrimination
Our study highlighted one of the biggest barriers was perception within the entrepreneurship landscape. Disabled people creating innovation and enterprise face discrimination along the way ranging from questions around their ability to be an entrepreneur, to how they navigate this around their presenting symptoms. Questioning that often comes from within the very initiatives designed to support them to do so.
Access to Finance
Responding to the barriers disabled entrepreneurs face when accessing Business Banks and Financial Services we worked with Lending Standards Board to produce an insight report https://www.lendingstandardsboard.org.uk/inclusion-in-business-banking-credit-disability-and-other-access-needs-report-launched/. This report embodies the lived experience of disabled people when seeking to access finance provides pretty transformational recommendations which are already increasing inclusion within banks and financial services.
Organisations such as Innovate UK and others are responding to the need to increase equality of Access to their innovation funding streams and who held their first disability funding strand. We are also seeing moves within Angel Investors who are recognising the need to open up opportunities to the sector.
Lack of Bespoke Business Support Networks which include a health and wellbeing strand
In response to the lack of mainstream Inclusive Business Support networks disabled people have over the years created a range of legacy networks. Mostly from scratch they have received little or no public or other funding to support their growth. The former APPGIE placed the barriers faced by the sector at the heart of government policy. The ethical collaboration between policy, practice and academia within it has seen impactful growth in this area. The work programme – which continues into the newly registered APPG for Inclusive Innovative Entrepreneurship – ensures this collaboration remains and it retains integrity and impartiality for the member organisations and individuals working for the good of all. The Recommendations within the report provide effective insight to ensure this continues to be the case ( APPGIE Infographic – Our Year in Westminster 2020-21 Audio & BSL edit https://youtu.be/q2p4D_TDhQY).
Access to practical disability related support
We are fortunate in the UK we have the Access to Work (ATW) award. ATW is envied worldwide in terms of its intent, which forms part of the government’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. ATW seeks to reduce the disability employment and pay gap by financing practical measures needed for disabled people – both within the employed and self-employed arenas. While it is widely reported ATW is conflicted in its administration and customer experience and has been reported to restrict growth in innovation and enterprise, it remains unrivalled.
Our study found a direct correlation between those disabled entrepreneurs who were in receipt of an ATW award and the ability to create innovation and enterprise. It is no exaggeration that these awards are fundamental to growth and the innovation and enterprise created.
But it doesn’t just stop there. The study identified ATW awards have positive socio-economic benefits by enabling disabled people to work in ways which allow them to navigate their presenting symptoms and break the cycle of poverty. The money which the Treasury allocates to this award is immediately returned to the economy. ATW is not directed as benefit to the disabled entrepreneur themselves, it is used to cover the costs of support workers, aids and adaptations, condition related training and access to mental health and wellbeing. This grows the economy directly through the innovation, businesses and enterprises founded and indirectly by adding growth in those sectors by way of jobs created, items manufactured, and training delivered.
Further study is happening to understand what this looks like in real terms as the ripple effect is likely to show that effectively resourcing disabled people to create innovation and enterprise extends way beyond what the Treasury puts into the award. For example, the reduction in the disability employment and pay gaps adds further value to the Treasury as people grow their business. Disabled entrepreneurs also reported improvements in their health, wellbeing and self-esteem and in some cases a reduction in the use of anti-depressants and pain medication.
The entrepreneurs showcased below will give you an insight into the breadth of innovation and enterprise created within this sector the barriers faced and where they are now and the ripple effect that has for the economy and society.
Celia Chartres-Aris, Disabled By Society
This year’s Disability Power 100 winner, Celia Chartres-Aris is a multi-award-winning Disabled Government special advisor, campaigner and lobbyist, researcher, policy and legal expert, founder and investor. Celia has received multiple awards including The Global Diversity Leaders list, a Global Future Young Leaders Scholar UK Delegate, and named as the most influential Disabled person changing law and policy. Celia is the Co-Founder of Disabled By Society, a Disabled-led organisation tackling ableism across three sectors through practical sustainable change.
Speaking about how Access to Work supported Celia, she comments: “I had no other choice than to start my own business because the barriers in my sector were impenetrable. Access to Work is not a benefit, it is a necessity to allow our society to utilise the talents of Disabled people and break down barriers to participation and opportunity.”
She noted that: “Access to Work doesn’t just benefit our Disabled entrepreneurs, a study from Access2Funding showed that Disabled people with access to financial resources are 100% more likely to hire another Disabled person. Access to Work is cyclical in the role it plays to break down barriers and open opportunities for Disabled people into work.”
Adam Thomas, Adam Thomas Consultancy
Adam Thomas is an independent design consultant, acknowledged as a world leader in accessible, multi-generational and inclusive kitchen design. With 40 years’ of lived experience and professional practice, Adam’s ambition is to change the face of accessible kitchen design and enable access for all – by designing flexible, high-quality kitchens with a full choice of colours and materials.
Adam uses innovative design solutions to set new standards in his field. Working with private clients, case managers, architects, personal injury solicitors and occupational therapists, he develops unique, tailored accessible kitchens that allow people to live independently in safe surroundings with significantly improved quality of life.
Adam comments: “I have used Access To Work many times in my career, from altering my place of work to make it accessible after my injury, to paying for a bathroom to be made accessible when my company relocated. They have helped me to purchase expensive equipment to allow me as a full-time wheelchair user to access building sites etc. In fact, I’m about to start the process all over again.
“I have earnt many millions of pounds over my career for the various companies I have worked for, in turn putting many millions of tax back into the system. Due to my health, I am now running my own limited company which gives me the flexibility to choose which hours I work. (which currently is every hour under the sun!)”
Sara Kedge, Dare to do better
Sara Kedge is a published and award-winning DEI Design Thinking Strategist, Coach and Trainer works with corporates to create inclusive, healthy and more productive workplaces. Her clients vary in reach from global to local across a range of industries including international development, bio-medical and public institutions. She also supports neurodivergent entrepreneurs to develop, grow and scale profitable businesses that work for them and their circumstances. Sara also is a guest lecturer on leadership, business and entrepreneurship. She started my own business after becoming exhausted by trying to fit into the neurotypical structures of organisations.
Sara comments: “Being an entrepreneur gives me the flexibility to design my work around my neurodivergent needs, while creating the change in the world I want to see. My Access to Work grant has provided the support I need to remove barriers in growing my business. My human support has been instrumental in enabling me to build a pipeline of consistent clients and manage the administration in running my enterprise. The equipment provided through the grant means I have tools to assist me in managing my executive function. For example, my additional monitor means I can see multiple windows on my computer, which is essential in coping with my information processing as a result of my profound dyspraxia.
“I am in the process of my second renewal for my grant and am terrified that I will lose the support it has offered. As a result of the grant, I have been able to double my year-on-year income and project this to continue in the next year. I have supported thousands of neurodivergent entrepreneurs in my community, and have worked one-on-one with over 30 neurodivergent entrepreneurs, helping them develop their businesses. I have worked with numerous UK and global businesses supporting them to develop different ways of supporting neurodivergence in the workplace. It is important to me that I support my community and have consciously selected support workers who have the expertise I need and who are also neurodivergent. Through the award I have been fortunate enough to have employed the support of seven people.”
Rachel Parker, The Frangipane Bakery
Rachel Parker was diagnosed autistic and required a strictly gluten free diet for the majority of her life and has used her experiences as motivation to create a fairer and more inclusive society.
Rachel says “I am on a mission to spread joy and support fellow neurodivergent people into meaningful employment through providing training and baking gluten-free products. I set up The Frangipane Bakery, a gluten-free bakery social enterprise based in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders. The work of the bakery aims to close the disability employment gap and is all based on our two core beliefs that; everyone deserves the dignity of a meaningful and worthwhile job regardless of their circumstances or background and people who require a gluten-free diet should be able to experience the same joy from food as everyone else.
“I set up the bakery following numerous challenges in traditional education and employment where my neurodivergence was not readily understood or accommodated and I was often signed off work due to ill health. In-person support with executive functioning, communication and the organisation of the day-to-day tasks associated with running the bakery has allowed me to build and develop the business in a sustainable way. Neurodivergent specific coaching has supported me to navigate entrepreneurship as an autistic person with a particular focus on maintaining my wellbeing.”
Rachel notes: “The vast majority of my Access to Work payments have been for human support, which puts money directly into our local rural economy. My Support Workers are predominantly local people who themselves often have disabilities or health conditions that have made traditional 9-5 employment difficult for them too. Providing a collection of flexible and part-time jobs has also supported many of my support workers to utilise their individual skills and return to or remain in work whilst expanding their professional networks.”
Grant Logan, Ability Today
Following a life-changing motorcycle accident Grant Logan founded Ability Today, an award-winning social enterprise dedicated to empowering disabled individuals through education and employment. Over the last five years, they have supported over 100 students through accessible education and pathways to employment. Ability Today alumni have achieved incredible success, securing roles at the BBC, ITV, and Newsquest, and freelancing for outlets such as Metro, Cosmopolitan, and The Guardian.
Grant comments: “Access To Work has been pivotal in enabling me to run my business supporting disabled students. It has allowed me to have a support worker and provide equipment that enables me to create innovation and enterprise. The funding from Access To Work directly benefits the economy by creating opportunities for support workers, training companies, and equipment suppliers. As a direct result of receiving my Access To Work award, it has directly impacted on reducing the disability employment and pay gap and the subsequent contribution of those individuals to the economy as well.”
The entrepreneurs we have introduced you to are a just a tiny sample of what is being created in this sector and a testament to why we have made our call for a Paradigm Shift moving taking this off the welfare agenda and firmly in the realms of Business, Inclusion, Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
The barriers faced are significant and the stories continue to be harrowing.
The Road to Wonder study and lived experience of our sector underpins the recommendations to Government and policy makers in the UK and globally to change the narrative and ensure disabled people are effectively resourced to be leaders in the creation of innovation and enterprise.
If you would like to know more about the work we are doing to achieve the Paradigm Shift and how you can get involved please get in touch at universal.inclusion@icloud.com