It’s Time To Recognise Business For What It Is - A Force For Good
By John Stevenson MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Family Business
If the pandemic has taught us anything it is how important our local communities are, and how important local businesses, in particular family businesses, are within these communities.
That’s why this week, I’m proud to be supporting the UK’s Family Business Week. The first of its kind, Family Business Week 2021 led by the Institute for Family Business (IFB), and supported by NatWest Business, aims to showcase the great work, particularly as part of their local communities – from job creation to sustainability efforts - that the UK’s family firms do.
While the term family business may evoke images of small, independent stores scattered across towns, the UK’s family business sector is one of the most diverse and innovative drivers of economic activity. From small firms to household names, family businesses operate in every sector; from manufacturing to retail and hospitality, to the arts, and professional services.
This diversity is reflected in the latest figures from the Family Business Sector Report, which highlights that 86 per cent of the UK’s businesses are family owned – five million in total. The sector also contributed an estimated £637m to UK GDP in 2019, just under a third of the total economic output for the year.
Yet it is not just their economic contribution that makes family businesses so special. As Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Family Business, I have been fortunate enough to hear from family businesses about how they’ve been supporting their communities throughout the pandemic.
At the start of lockdown, COOK - a family-run business specialising in preparing ready meals - began putting aside free meals for vulnerable customers while many supermarket shelves were emptying. Bettys & Taylors Group worked tirelessly throughout Yorkshire delivering refreshments to frontline NHS staff at 11 hospitals, as well as major vaccination centres across the county, which Steve Vick International supplied over 2000 gowns to a Bristol hospital which were made by their in-house sewing department.
It is family businesses like these that continue to represent the powerful role that businesses can play in supporting their local communities. And it is this community spirit inherent within family firms that will help provide solutions to the significant challenges we as a country face, including climate change.
Over the past few weeks, we have seen global leaders, activists, and world businesses gather at COP26 to work on tackling the effects of climate change, and last month we heard the Chancellor outline his plans to cement the UK’s status as a leader on the road to net zero.
Yet at a time when we are seeing many businesses begin to take the issue seriously, sustainability goes to the heart of the family business model. Sustainability and the need to create a long-lasting, future-proofed business goes right to the heart of the family business model. Family business owners see their roles as custodians, not profit-seekers, taking great care and pride in passing down the family business from generation to generation.
Family businesses are spread across all four nations of the country, 82% of them outside of London, so helping family businesses continue to thrive is essential if we are to deliver on our promise to level up and realise our full potential as a country. We know that education, skills, and jobs are critical to achieving this, and this is yet another area where family businesses are leading the way.
The sector recognises the vital contribution of their workforce and invests in the long-term future and development of its people, which is no mean feat given they employ 14 million people. For example, property firm Seddon, based in Bolton, employs 700 people across the country and has supported over 400 apprentices gain their qualifications. Even during the pandemic, the firm was able to take on a further 17 trade and high apprentices this year. It is precisely this commitment to creating opportunity, developing people, and generating prosperity - that we as conservatives must continue to champion.
Many of the significant challenges we face – building back better from the COVID pandemic, leaving our planet in a better state for future generations, and levelling up all parts of the country – can only be solved in partnership with the nation’s family businesses. It’s about time we recognised them for what they are – a force for good.
I implore you to seek out a family business in your community and if possible, visit tomorrow for Family Business Friday to show your support for this incredibly versatile and resilient sector is the heart of our business community.
John Stevenson is MP for Carlisle and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Family Business, who previously worked at family-owned Bendles Solicitors.