TWO working mums have changed their lives by taking the plunge to start their own business.
Esther Guy and Natasha Baker can now be at the school gates when classes end, be there to help with homework, and not feel guilty when they have to stay at home to look after a sick child.
Friends for 20 years after they met working at recruitment firm Reed, both took the big step to leave high-powered jobs, retrain and start up their own accountancy firm – so they can manage their work around their families.
The gamble has worked, and the pair have achieved the work-life balance they dreamed of.
It is something that should be more common, according to the Government. Last week its Children and Families Bill, under which all employees would have a right to request flexible working, cleared its second reading in the House of Commons.
"I love it," said Mrs Guy, of Somerfield Close, Burgh Heath, of her new lifestyle.
"It is the solution I was dreaming of for the last ten years."
The mother-of-three was driving 140 miles per day to and from her job in Kent before she decided to move careers.
"I love work," she said.
"It's part of who I am. Natasha and I are very like-minded, we like to be busy. Juggling childcare and work is just natural – but to be able to do that from home is brilliant.
"It is about quality, being able to spend time with your children.
"My twin girls are 11, they are in their last year of primary school.
"They have got SATs coming up and I want to be able to practise with them. When they are babies and you put them into nursery, you feel guilty, but as they grow up you realise it is now that they are turning into little people and they need a little bit more guidance from their mum."
The duo are still disciplined with their work hours – but they fit them in between school runs and make up time in the evenings and weekends.
The seed of the accountancy idea was sown when they both took care of their husbands' finances – one is a plumber, the other a plasterer.
With 20 years' experience in contractor recruitment, they decided to form accounting4contractors, a practice for contractors, freelancers and sole traders.
"It was a big step, but we knew we could make it work," said Mrs Baker, 45, of Brew House Road, Brockham.
"If we wanted to be masters of our own destiny, it had to be something we could do from home."
"Our lives were like a military operation, everything is so much better now.
"Being an independent person who has worked for 27 years and earned good money, to all of a sudden not have that takes a bit of adjusting to, but to be able to think about what's for dinner before 8pm, and have my son's friends around to play, to walk to the local school – that's why we live here, because we want to enjoy life."
For more information on the business, go to www.accounting4contractors.co.uk
