'I had to put life before work and walk away' - inside Britain's staffing crisis

Beck Edmunds was crowned Employee of the Year at the Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff Awards in February, being described as the "glue that holds the team together" following more than 16 years of service at Bryan Smart's yard in North Yorkshire.

Yet just eight months later Edmunds has had to walk away from the sport, driven to a decision she describes as heartbreaking by the sheer scale of the workload and the impact the job was having on her life outside work, especially with her husband also serving as Smart's assistant.

"You can't get people to come in and do the job anymore so your full-time staff get lumbered with picking up the slack," says Edmunds. "Week in, week out, it's only got worse.