It's not that long ago that the idea of a woman running a company seemed far-fetched, but an increasing number of women are doing just that - and more and more of them are now employing their husbands.
Since 2000 the number of women running their own businesses has grown by almost 20% to around 1 million. A large proportion of these female entrepreneurs left traditional roles in order to have more freedom and flexibility, and to develop a better work-life balance. And for some of them, employing someone familiar and trustworthy - their husband - was an obvious next step.
For forty somethings and above, there is still a very entrenched view of men as the family breadwinners, but setting aside this old stereotype can have real financial and social benefits. Mary Tomes retired in 2005, only to stun her family by setting up Colourful Coffins, a company producing, you've guessed it, colourful coffins - and then then recruiting husband Kevin, with whom she had already worked for a quarter of a century.
The Tomes' professional relationship works well. Kevin accepts that while his skills lie in running the factory and design side, Mary is better at running the business. It doesn't always run smoothly, though, and the couple admit to having some 'very, very heated discussions'. Mary says that the answer to a couple having a successful working relationship "is to have defined roles and the same at home. It's like two people working together in the garden - one might cut the grass and the other does the flowers. You have to do it in harmony. It can be a very painful learning experience, but like a good marriage, work has its rewards".
Yet while there is every indication that the men of Generation Y still expect women to shoulder the bulk of household chores, can we expect them to be happy to take orders from their wives? While this may work in certain situations, it will be a long, long time before this is the rule rather than the exception.
