Yorkshire family business owners believe Brexit will make biggest impact in 2017

Hundreds of family business owners have stated that Brexit is the biggest single issue which will have the greatest impact on business in the next 12 months.

With Prime Minister Theresa May revealing she will trigger Article 50 next Wednesday 29th March, Brexit is revealed as the number one topic in the UK’s biggest survey of family businesses.

More than 400 family businesses from across 32 UK counties, which employ 8,000 people with a salary bill of more than £210m, took part in the survey, conducted by independent financial and business advisers Armstrong Watson.

Family businesses account for at least 70% of all private sector businesses.

35% of respondents to the survey cited Brexit as the issue set to have the greatest impact on their business in 2017. Of those 69% expect it to have a negative impact.

In Yorkshire 33% cited Brexit as the biggest issue, but they are split on whether it will be a positive or negative influence on their business, with 45% seeing it as positive and 55% as negative.

The next single biggest issue was the National Living Wage. Of the 13% of Yorkshire businesses which highlighted it, 83% expect it to have a negative effect.

Auto enrolment is another challenge for family businesses with 88% of those which highlighted it in Yorkshire expecting it to have a negative impact on business.

The main positive picked out by family businesses was low interest rates with 67% of Yorkshire businesses which referred to this area of finance expecting it to have a positive impact on business this year.

When it comes to future ownership, 49% of Yorkshire family business owners plan to hand their business over to their children, only 8% plan to sell to the highest bidder, 9% sell to the bidder who will carry on their ethos and values, and only 5% plan to cease trading altogether.

But they are not in any rush to make those changes, with 54% set to carry on in the same ownership for more than ten years, with only 23% set to change within the next five years.

As for personal finance, 48% of Yorkshire family business owners are confident the funds they have earmarked for retirement will be sufficient to support their lifestyle.

Celebrating its 150th anniversary, financial and business advisory experts Armstrong Watson, the largest independent business of its kind across Yorkshire, Cumbria and Scotland, says the information helps family businesses plan for the future.

Paul Dickson, managing partner of Armstrong Watson, said: “By understanding the current thinking within UK family businesses, we are able to ensure more businesses are protected, survival rates increase and, perhaps most importantly, they continue to prosper.”

As part of its work with family businesses, Armstrong Watson has also launched a Family Business Portrait project with professional artist Helen Perkins as part of its work to highlight the valued contribution family businesses make to the economy.

The initiative has so far featured Yorkshire business leaders William Whitaker of Whitakers Chocolates Ltd, Skipton, and Mark Sugden of John W Laycock Ltd, Keighley.

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