Josh Wintersgill is an award-winning entrepreneur. For six years, he has successfully run a business designing and selling products that make travel easier for wheelchair users. His company has won national recognition, and his innovations have changed lives for disabled people.
But now, despite all of his success, Josh’s business is under threat. The very government scheme that helped him establish his company – Access to Work – has cut his support by 80%. Where once he had a support worker five days a week, that has been reduced to one. Since July, Josh has had no support at all while he appeals the decision. Without it, he fears his business will collapse.
This isn’t just Josh’s story. Across the UK, disabled entrepreneurs and employees are experiencing delays, cuts, and confusion in the Access to Work scheme. The programme, often described as the government’s “best-kept secret”, has long been a lifeline that enables disabled people to work, run businesses, and contribute to society. Now, it risks becoming a barrier instead of a bridge.
Why Access to Work Matters
Access to Work exists for a simple reason: disabled people often face extra costs that are not covered by employers’ legal duties. These include things like specialist equipment, taxis when public transport is inaccessible, British Sign Language interpreters, and support workers. For entrepreneurs like Josh – and for me, as a totally blind business leader – Access to Work is the difference between being able to run a business and being excluded altogether.
In my own case, as the founder of Blind Ambition, I travel the country delivering disability awareness training to businesses, universities, and public services. I rely on Access to Work to fund the support that enables me to get to meetings, prepare materials, and deliver training effectively. Without that support, it simply wouldn’t be possible.
And this is not unique to me. Research has shown that disabled entrepreneurs make up a huge proportion of the small business community. Lloyds Bank has highlighted that as many as a quarter of all entrepreneurs are disabled or neurodiverse – a remarkable statistic that shows just how much talent is out there, ready to create, innovate, and contribute to the economy.
Why so many? Because disabled people are often marginalised in traditional career paths. Starting a business becomes a way of taking control, creating opportunities, and turning barriers into solutions. But those businesses need the scaffolding of Access to Work to thrive.
Cuts That Don’t Add Up
Of course, we understand that government finances are under pressure. The welfare budget is vast, and there is a need to make savings. But here’s the reality: every disabled person denied support through Access to Work is not someone who magically “costs nothing”. Instead, they are often forced out of work, left dependent on benefits, and denied the chance to contribute their skills to society.
It is a false economy. The government may save a small sum in the short term, but the long-term costs – in benefits paid out, taxes not collected, and productivity lost – are far greater.
This contradiction is painfully clear when disabled people are told that Access to Work cannot support unpaid voluntary roles. For example, I once served as a parish councillor, an unpaid role that is often the first stepping stone into public life. Without Access to Work, blind and disabled people are effectively barred from those early rungs of the political ladder – a barrier that stops them ever reaching higher office. Similarly, people trying to build confidence after long-term unemployment through volunteering are denied support, even though those opportunities could help them transition into full-time work.
We are, in effect, cutting off the roots of progress.
The Bigger Picture – Innovation Needs Diversity
There’s a wonderful analogy from science that I often share. In a bee colony, about 80% of bees follow the “waggle dance” – the communication that tells them where food can be found. But the other 20% ignore it completely. They head off in different directions, looking for new sources.
At first glance, those bees look like rebels. But they are essential to the survival of the hive. If the original food source dries up, it’s those adventurous 20% who have already discovered alternatives and can lead the colony to safety.
Disabled and neurodiverse entrepreneurs are often that 20%. We don’t always fit into traditional patterns, but we bring creativity, innovation, and resilience. Our businesses don’t just generate income – they create solutions that benefit society as a whole.
Josh is a perfect example. His company exists because he saw a gap – wheelchair users struggling to travel independently – and he created a solution. That’s the entrepreneurial spirit at its best. Cutting the support that enables people like Josh to keep going isn’t just unfair, it’s self-defeating.
A Call to Action
Access to Work is not charity. It is an investment. Every pound spent enables disabled people to work, pay taxes, and employ others. Every cut risks pushing us out of the economy and into dependency.
As an award-winning business leader, I can say with certainty: Blind Ambition would not exist without Access to Work. The training, consultancy, and advocacy we deliver across the UK depend on the support it provides. And I know that story is echoed by thousands of others.
The government’s consultation on the scheme has closed, and ministers are reviewing it. But we cannot afford delay. Disabled entrepreneurs are being left without the tools to survive right now.
At Blind Ambition, we will continue to campaign, to support, and to raise awareness. We also run a thriving peer support WhatsApp community where blind and partially sighted people share advice, encouragement, and opportunities – join us here.
As Josh’s story shows, this is about more than one person, or one business. It’s about the kind of society we want to be. Do we abandon disabled people to a life on benefits? Or do we invest in their ability to thrive, to create, and to lead?
I know which choice makes Britain stronger.
