--- title: "Made redundant at 45+: turning a payout into a runway | Hypergility" description: "A redundancy payout in your mid-40s is the most common founder funding round nobody talks about. Here's how to make it last 18 months." lang: en json-ld: | { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BlogPosting", "headline": "Made redundant at 45+: turning a payout into a runway", "description": "A redundancy payout in your mid-40s is the most common founder funding round nobody talks about. Here's how to make it last 18 months.", "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Hypergility" } ], "datePublished": "2026-05-21T06:51:11.386039+00:00", "dateModified": "2026-05-21T16:28:51.808646+00:00", "image": "https://aaiqevwzojrlzhxdxxzq.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/media-processed/blog-heroes/made-redundant-at-45-payout-to-runway.jpg", "keywords": "Build & ship", "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://www.hypergility.com/blog/made-redundant-at-45-payout-to-runway" }, "citation": [ { "@type": "CreativeWork", "name": "gov.uk — Redundancy pay", "url": "https://www.gov.uk/redundancy-your-rights/redundancy-pay" } ], "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Hypergility", "url": "https://www.hypergility.com" } } --- [![Hypergility](/assets/hypergility-logo-BKOgRT51.png)for bold startups ](/) Services [Startup Grower](https://startupgrower.hypergility.io/)[Website Build](/build-your-website)[Public Sector Bids](/offerings/win-public-sector-bids)[Management Systems & Assurance](/services/management-systems) Who it's for [Are you a bold founder?](/are-you-a-bold-founder)[Innovation Hubs](/partners/innovation-hubs)[Universities](/partners/universities)[Researchers](/personas/researchers) [Why us](/why-us)[News](/news)[Try Startup Grower](https://startupgrower.hypergility.io/)[Contact](/contact) [Back to News](/news) ![Made redundant at 45+: turning a payout into a runway](https://aaiqevwzojrlzhxdxxzq.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/media-processed/blog-heroes/made-redundant-at-45-payout-to-runway.jpg) Build & ship # Made redundant at 45+: turning a payout into a runway Hypergility May 21, 2026 TL;DR - Treat the payout as personal runway, not business capital — separate accounts from day one. - Aim for 18 months of personal burn before any business spend. - First 30 days: do nothing structural. Decompress, talk to ten ex-colleagues, write down what you actually want. - SEIS-eligible founders can raise up to £250k from angels — but only after you've invested yourself first. - UK redundancy: statutory cap of £21,000 (2025/26) for statutory part; enhanced packages average 1 month per year of service. - Average UK founder age at first venture: 42 (Harvard Business Review 2018, replicated UK ONS 2024). A redundancy payout at 45+ is, statistically, the most common way UK founders fund the first 12 months of a new venture. It's also the one most often blown on the wrong things in the first 60 days. Here's the discipline that turns it into 18 months of real runway. The first discipline is separation. Two bank accounts from day one — personal runway and business capital — and they don't mix. Founders who blur this almost always run out of both at once. Aim for 18 months of personal burn covered before you put a pound into the business. That's the period where the data shows whether the venture has signal or doesn't. First 30 days should be structural-change-free. Decompress, talk to ten people who knew you before the redundancy, write down what you actually want from the next ten years. The pivot to "starting a business" comes after that conversation, not before. UK founders 45+ have one structural advantage younger founders don't: network density. Use it before you spend. > “A redundancy at 45 isn't the end of a career. It's the most honest startup capital you'll ever raise.” — Mark Preston , Hypergility ## Sources 1. [gov.uk — Redundancy pay](https://www.gov.uk/redundancy-your-rights/redundancy-pay) Move from question to traction with Grower. 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