Family businesses vital to UK economic growth

Family businesses are the backbone of the UK’s economic recovery and as drivers of “enterprise, entrepreneurship and commerce” should not be underestimated.

That’s according to the UK-based Forum of Private Business, a lobby group for small and medium-sized enterprises, which has teamed up with management consultancy Steuer Gregsson to offer special services to family-owned groups.

“The importance of family-run firms really should not be underestimated – we need to start seeing growth in this area as being intrinsically linked to the future health of the UK economy,” said Phil Orford, chief executive of the forum, in a statement.

Under the deal with Steuer Gregsson, members of the forum will receive support on succession planning and other family-business related issues at a discounted rate.

“If you look at the number of family firms which make it past second generation of ownership, current figures put it as low as one in five. We need that figure to improve, and succession planning is certainly a tool which will allow firms to go further, longer and be more successful,” added Orford.

More than 65% of the UK’s small and medium-sized businesses are family-run. They account for around 9.2 million jobs in the country or 40% of total private sector employment.