Recent Release | 01 Dec 2022
The State of the Nation: The UK Family Business Sector 2021–22
Economic Consulting Team
Oxford Economics
During the pandemic and in its aftermath, the UK family business sector has remained a core part of the UK economy. In this report, we present new insights about the sector and highlight its economic contribution.
The 4.8 million family firms in the UK made up 85.9% of all private sector businesses in 2020. Through their daily operations, they employed 13.9 million workers—51.5% of private sector employment. They also contributed £575 billion in GVA.
This latest report also presents new evidence on the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on family businesses, and how it impacted their operations and performance. It also looks to the future, outlining how family firms are feeling about the post-pandemic economy, and how they are considering issues such as Brexit, energy usage, and technology adoption.
About the team
Our Economic Consulting team are world leaders in quantitative economic analysis, working with clients around the globe and across sectors to build models, forecast markets and evaluate interventions using state-of-the art techniques. Lead consultants on this project were:
Ian Saxon
Associate Director, Economic Impact
Ankur Desai
Economist, Economic Impact
You might be interested in
Demographics are set to propel niche property types in the UK
As the UK population ages, time-use data suggest that the property sectors with structural tailwinds will be those that provide space for activities related to home entertainment, eating and drinking, socialising, events, leisure, hobbies, and sports/exercise.
Find Out More
UK : The everyday economy matters to local economic performance
The everyday economy generates half of all UK employment and 33% of GVA but is often dismissed because it generates less growth than high value services and has low productivity. But indirectly it has the capacity to improve the competitiveness and performance of local economies and has been identified by Labour Party leaders as a sector to focus on, if they win the election.
Find Out More
UK: Supply constraints are probably less prominent in the south
The extent to which UK employers can respond to likely 2024 interest rate cuts with increased output, rather than rises in prices and wages, will partly reflect the extent of spare capacity. This will inevitably vary by region. Evidence on this is imperfect, but in terms of capital assets (including intangibles) and labour availability, southern regions appear to be in a stronger position than those in the UK's traditional industrial heartland.
Find Out More
Eurozone: Little sign of harm from the Red Sea disruptions
The impact of Red Sea shipping disruption on the eurozone economy continues to be limited, in line with our baseline view. Our new Eurozone Supply Stress Indicator suggests that supply pressures have returned to normal following a period of easing in 2023.
Find Out More