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

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