The State of The Nation: The UK Family Business Sector 2017-18
Family-run businesses are vital to the United Kingdom economy, accounting for 88 percent of all UK firms. They operate in every industrial sector throughout each nation and region, employing almost half of the UK’s private-sector workforce.
In this report for the IFB Research Foundation, Oxford Economics presents the most up-to-date evidence on the family business sector, detailing its key characteristics, recent performances and economic contributions to the UK as a whole. Looking forward, it sheds light on the unique challenges the sector faces, and its plans for future growth.
Family businesses employ more than 12.2 million people in 4.8 million UK firms. Their output contributes £519 million to the UK’s annual GDP––more than a quarter of all the country’s economic activity each year. The sector also generates some £149 million in taxes for HM Treasury––larger than the NHS’s budget for 2016/17.
The UK’s family businesses have ambitious plans: this report finds that 60 per cent intend to increase the skills of their workforce over the next three years to achieve further growth, while more than a third say they plan to inject capital investment or introduce new working practices. Not that it’s all plain sailing, of course: the report also identifies increased competition and regulations as family businesses’ two main obstacles to success.
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