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2026 FAMILY OWNED, PRIVATELY OWNED AND OWNER-MANAGED BUSINESS SURVEY

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Record number of family businesses respond to survey, creating insight into the UK’s most significant sector

Paul Dickson

Chief Executive & Managing Partner

Armstrong Watson has conducted a significant survey of family businesses which reveals some surprising insights into the UKs family businesses and some of the key issues they are facing at the moment.

The family business report is one of the biggest surveys in the UK of its kind, with a record number of 323 respondents from all over the country, meaning the results have statistical significance and represent a good insight into the current state of play for family businesses in Britain.

With much attention being placed on family businesses, including Prime Minister David Cameron being quoted recently as saying ‘family businesses are at the heart of our lives, they play a vital role in the economy’, there has never been a more important time to gain insight and understanding into the issues and opportunities they are facing.

Paul Dickson, Managing Partner comments:

‘Family businesses of all sizes form the majority of the client base we support. After commissioning research into family businesses working with the Bradford School of Business and creating our ‘Unlocking the Family Secret’ report in 2014, we felt we needed to gather more insight into family businesses in order to better support our clients.

We created the family business survey to help us uncover what they see as being key issues for the future, the challenges they face and the opportunities they see. We were overwhelmed with responses and are delighted to now be able to launch our analysis of the results.

The respondents of this survey employ in excess of 5,300 employees with an estimated average annual salary cost of in excess of £80m. Understanding the trends and challenges everyone else is facing allows businesses to plan and avoid common pitfalls when looking to the future. It’s vital that we are equipped with the knowledge we need to support the UK’s most significant sector in meeting their challenges for the future.’

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