Published in: Blog

Unlocking enterprise potential: the hidden impact of childcare access

Author hamza

Published on: January 30, 2026

At Tree Shepherd, we meet people every week who have the ideas, skills, and motivation to start or grow a business. They are ready for enterprise support. The barrier is often simple and deeply frustrating.

Childcare.

For parents building a business with young children, time is not just limited, it is unpredictable. That unpredictability affects income, confidence, and whether people can show up for the very opportunities that help businesses grow.

From our experience, childcare is not a peripheral issue. It is a core business development constraint. Without reliable time, enterprise support cannot be fully accessed, applied, or translated into sustainable income.

With new funding from the Lion’s Trust, we are launching a pilot programme to test a practical question:

If we reduce childcare pressure, even slightly, what becomes possible for a business?

Why childcare matters for business

Starting and running a business requires protected, focused time. Gaps in childcare make that difficult, particularly for self‑employed parents and early‑stage founders. In practice, this can mean:

Putting off a business idea, or abandoning it altogether
Missing workshops, mentoring sessions, networking events, and procurement briefings
Turning down paid work because hours do not align with childcare availability
Growing more slowly because time for sales, planning, and delivery cannot be protected

This is not only an early‑stage issue. Many active traders and established business owners reach a ceiling where childcare costs and availability eat into both time and margins. Businesses continue to operate, but below their potential.

For Tree Shepherd, this represents a capacity gap rather than a skills gap. The people we support are often motivated, capable, and ready to engage but structurally unable to do so consistently. Childcare access determines whether enterprise support can be used at all.

There is also a wider economic implication. The Office for Budget Responsibility has estimated that the expansion of funded childcare could increase employment by around 60,000 people, highlighting the scale of work currently held back by childcare constraints. CBI analysis has estimated that a return of 60,000 mothers to work could generate a GDP uplift of approximately £1.7 billion under their modelling assumptions.

What support exists, and where it can still miss the mark

In England, funded childcare support exists, but it does not always align with the realities of self‑employment and early‑stage business building.

All 3 and 4 year olds are entitled to 15 hours a week for 38 weeks a year
Eligible working parents can access funded childcare, with the expanded offer now covering children from 9 months upwards

Despite this, many self‑employed parents continue to struggle because:

Funded hours are often delivered in term‑time patterns, with holiday cover becoming prohibitively expensive
Eligibility is linked to earnings, which for self‑employed people can fluctuate significantly across the year
Business activity may require childcare outside standard hours, which not all providers can offer

This creates a gap between what exists on paper and what works in real life. It is in this gap that viable business ideas stall and growth opportunities are missed.

Introducing the Childcare and Enterprise Support Pilot

This pilot is designed to test a simple but under‑explored idea:

Childcare is a lever that unlocks enterprise support.

If childcare pressure is reduced, even modestly, entrepreneurs are better able to engage in mentoring, training, and income‑generating activity.

Through the pilot, we will support six individuals over one year with:

80 hours of funded childcare
One‑to‑one enterprise mentoring
Access to tailored workshops and business support
Peer support and regular check‑ins with the Tree Shepherd team

Participants will be selected across different stages of enterprise:

2 at idea stage
2 in start‑up phase
2 in growth phase

Applications will be open to individuals from any London borough who have children enrolled in, or soon to be enrolled in, OFSTED‑registered childcare.

Why Tree Shepherd is doing this

This pilot is not only about supporting six individuals, although the impact on those businesses will be significant.

Tree Shepherd’s wider aim is to build evidence about what enables inclusive entrepreneurship in practice. We know from our work that enterprise support is most effective when structural barriers are addressed alongside skills and confidence.

Through this pilot, we will explore:

How access to childcare affects business progression, income opportunities, and engagement with support
What types of mentoring and training are most effective when childcare pressure is reduced
What funders and policymakers need to understand about the realities facing self‑employed parents

We are realistic about the challenges of scaling childcare provision. The National Audit Office has highlighted the significant delivery pressures, including the need to increase the early years workforce by approximately 40,000 full‑time equivalent staff by September 2025. This pilot does not attempt to solve childcare provision at scale, but to contribute practical learning about how enterprise support and childcare policy intersect.