Family firms boost East Midlands economy

Family business is the life's blood of the East Midlands' economy, accounting for 90 per cent of all private firms in the region - according to a new report.
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Furthermore, the annual UK Family Business Report, compiled by Oxford Economics for the Institute for Family Business (IFB) Research Foundation, revealed keeping it in the family is good for employment too - with 42 per cent of all jobs in the region being within family-run firms.

Additionally, there are more than 318,000 family-run firms in the East Midlands - making up almost one in ten of all family businesses across the UK.

Elizabeth Bagger, IFB executive director, said: “This year’s report really reinforces the immense contribution family firms make to our economy and communities - especially here in East Midlands, which has a buoyant and thriving family business network.

“Their stewardship and clear commitment to a strong and sustainable future is hugely inspiring, and the growth of the sector demonstrates that the strong values within family firms continue to deliver real social and economic benefits.”

Nationwide, the continued investment and commitment to growth of family firms has seen the creation of 300,000 new jobs since 2014, boosting the family business sector’s overall employment figure to 12.2 million – almost half (47 per cent) of all private sector employment and more than a third (36 per cent) of the UK’s entire workforce.

Family businesses have also significantly boosted turnover from £1.3 trillion to £1.4 trillion – accounting for 35 per cent of the UK’s private sector turnover for the entire year.

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