By Martin Kemp, Family Business Research Foundation
Family businesses are fundamental to the UK’s economy, significantly contributing to turnover, employment, and growth across regions and sectors. As a recent sector report by economic consultancy Cebr highlights, in 2023, family-owned firms represented 93.2 per cent of all private sector businesses, supporting 15.8 million jobs—57 per cent of total private sector employment—and generated a turnover of £2,805 billion, nearly half of the private sector total.
Family businesses play a crucial role in the UK’s wholesale and retail trade sector. In 2023, the sector
- had the third highest number of family businesses of any sector (including micro-businesses without employees) with an estimated 510,069 firms. This represented 91.3 per cent of all firms operating in this part of the economy.
- had the greatest number of family businesses with employees (195,755 firms), amounting to 80.2 per cent of all private sector businesses with employees operating in the wholesale and retail trade sector.
Family firms in the wholesale and retail trade sector
- accounted for an estimated £974bn of turnover, more than any other economic sector in the UK in 2023. This equated to 53.8 per cent of all private sector turnover generated by businesses in this part of the economy.
- generated more GVA than family businesses in other economic sectors – total GVA of family-owned businesses in wholesale and retail was £140bn, accounting for 53.1 per cent of the total private sector GVA in this industry.
- employed an estimated 2.73mn people, more than family firms in any other sector, representing 68.4 per cent of all employment in businesses in the wholesale and retail trade sector in 2023.
- made among the largest contributions to family business employee compensation, a total of £55,157mn in 2023, paying an average of £24,339 per annum per employee.
The new research from the Family Business Research Foundation highlights the critical role of family firms in driving economic growth, especially in the wholesale and retail sector.
The full report by Cebr, The State of the Nation: The UK Family Business Sector in 2023 includes up-to-date information about the demographics of family-owned firms in the UK. Access the full report free of charge here: https://www.fbrf.org.uk/reports/state-of-the-nation-23
For more information about the Family Business Research Foundation and research on family businesses, go to: www.fbrf.org.uk
