{"id":689679,"date":"2026-01-11T21:18:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T21:18:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/689679\/"},"modified":"2026-01-11T21:18:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T21:18:24","slug":"time-to-stop-risking-britains-family-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/689679\/","title":{"rendered":"Time to stop risking Britain\u2019s family businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Columnist<\/a>\n <\/p>\n

For my family, business has never been just a balance sheet; it is in our blood.<\/p>\n

That is why the Jobs Foundation\u2019s latest polling makes such grim reading.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Based on a survey of 1150 family businesses and farms across the UK, it shows confidence at historic lows.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nearly eight in ten family business owners are pessimistic about the UK economy in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Four in five say the Government does not understand what it is like to run a business, and only 17 per cent would advise a young entrepreneur to start a business in the UK.<\/p>\n

These figures are not an abstract Westminster debate.<\/p>\n

They reflect the mood in workshops, depots and boardrooms across the North East, and they should worry anyone who cares about jobs, opportunity and long-term prosperity.<\/p>\n

I lead a family firm \u2013 Pickerings Lifts \u2013 which was founded in Stockton-on-Tees in 1854 during the middle of the Industrial Revolution.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As executive vice-chair, I am the sixth generation of the family working directly in the business.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Our home is Teesside, and our story is shared by many family firms across our region.<\/p>\n

Family businesses are not simply commercial entities; they are community pillars that provide stability, dignity and opportunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We invest in people with a view measured in decades, not financial quarters, and we build relationships that endure through economic cycles.<\/p>\n

In our 172 years on Teesside, many local families have had relatives working with us at some point.<\/p>\n

That depth of connection creates loyalty, resilience and pride \u2013 qualities that cannot be replicated overnight and should not be taken for granted.<\/p>\n

Yet, as this research makes clear, the engine room of the UK economy is sputtering.<\/p>\n

What is most striking is the scale of the disconnect between political rhetoric and business reality.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This is not just about one Budget or another.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Three quarters of owners believe successive Westminster regimes have lacked the ambition to make the UK a great place to do business.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Most say recent headline fiscal blueprints have harmed them, while only a tiny minority believe they will benefit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More than half feel the link between reward and effort is being severed.<\/p>\n

That matters because family businesses tend to think and act differently.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The polling shows motivations such as building something worthwhile, providing a great service and supporting your family rank far higher than the pursuit of wealth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That long-term mindset is what drives people to take risks, employ others and keep investing when conditions are tough.<\/p>\n

But when the tax and regulatory environment become increasingly hostile, it doesn\u2019t just dent confidence, it changes behaviour.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two thirds of family businesses believe current tax arrangements disincentivise enterprise and risk-taking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When the cost and uncertainty of doing business keep rising, the result is less hiring, less investment and weaker growth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That is not ideology, it is economic reality.<\/p>\n

Nowhere is anxiety sharper than on succession planning, the issue that truly sets family firms apart.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Business Property Relief and Agricultural Property Relief are fundamental to whether a working enterprise can be passed on without being broken up to meet an inheritance tax bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the Government has partially made a U-turn on Agricultural Property Relief, it still leaves many very concerned about the future.<\/p>\n

The report shows inheritance tax already affects succession planning for a significant share of businesses, with nearly two thirds saying it is demoralising to think they cannot pass on as much of their business to successors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We should value continuity, jobs and long-term stewardship.<\/p>\n

There is also a looming problem.<\/p>\n

Awareness of the changes to Business Property Relief remains low.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Only a small minority say they know a lot about them, yet among those who do, a majority say the changes will affect their future plans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That means an already pessimistic picture is likely to worsen as more owners realise what is coming and start planning defensively.<\/p>\n

We must not forget what is at stake.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Family businesses form the backbone of the UK\u2019s SME base and support millions of jobs and livelihoods.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the North East, they underpin local supply chains, apprenticeships, social mobility and community pride.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If we want a country where enterprise transforms lives, we must stop penalising those who take risks and build for the long term.<\/p>\n

There is a better path.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Business owners are clear about what would help most: bringing down energy costs, reversing the rise in employer national insurance contributions and making it possible to pass a business on to the next generation without punitive penalties.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These are practical steps that would restore confidence and unlock investment.<\/p>\n

My message, as chair of the Jobs Foundation North East, is simple.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Listen to family businesses, not as a special interest, but as the backbone of communities.<\/p>\n

If family firms are not incentivised to stay, build and pass on their legacy here, the loss to our local communities, and to the country as a whole, will be incalculable.<\/p>\n

We have spent generations building something that outlasts political cycles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Britain should not make it harder for the next generation to do the same.<\/p>\n

Kiran Fothergill is Jobs Foundation North East chair and Pickerings Lifts\u2019 executive chair<\/strong><\/p>\n

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