Family businesses aren’t just economically but socially vital to the UK economy, says the Small Business Commissioner
In a blog to mark the first Family Business Week, developed and promoted by the Institute for Family Business (IFB), Small Business Commissioner Liz Barclay revisited her childhood on the family farm. As well as dogs and horses, and “wellies, covered in animal excrement…”, Liz reflected on the challenges:
“The business of producing a livelihood for a family of five, as well as paying suppliers of animal food and farm equipment, plus labour for hay and crop processing, was the bit we didn’t see as kids. When a valuable animal died, some accident struck or the paperwork deadlines loomed there was a different, far more serious, air around the otherwise cheerfully bustling yards.”
Thanks to families like Liz’s giving their all for their businesses, the economic value of the sector is substantial. According to research carried out by Oxford Economics for the IFB, there were around 4.8 million family-owned businesses in the UK in 2017, almost 3.9 million of which had no employees. That constituted 85.1 per cent of all private sector firms in the country in every region and industrial sector, at the point the research was carried out.
During this first Family Business Week, the team at the IFB is encouraging people to recognise the versatility, variability and strength of the country’s family-owned businesses. Often deeply rooted in their communities, as the CEO of the Scottish Family Business Association Martin Stepek says, family businesses can be highly sustainable, and focused on preserving their business success for the long term.
The Office of the Small Business Commissioner (OSBC) supports family-owned small businesses, alongside all other businesses with fewer than 50 staff in the UK, which are experiencing poor payment practices from larger customers. The OSBC has secured almost £8 million of settlements since December 2017.
With the Commissioner’s passion for family-run small businesses clear from her blog, and an experienced team of professional caseworkers available to support small businesses facing payment issues, the OSBC is well-placed to offer constructive advice and guidance. The casework team has previously helped family businesses to secure money owed to them by larger organisations, and helped those small businesses to continue trading as a result.
This Family Business Week, the contributions of the UK’s small, family-owned enterprises are rightly being celebrated. And those businesses can be assured that, if they are frustrated by payment issues during the rest of the year, the team at the OSBC is ready to help.
Notes to Editors:
The Office of the Small Business Commissioner (OSBC) was set up by government at the end of 2017. Following growing concern about the amount of money owed to small businesses (those with fewer than 50 staff) by large business customers (businesses with more than 50 staff), the establishment of the OSBC saw steps taken to try to reduce this kind of business-to-business debt.
Established under the Enterprise Act 2016, the OSBC has the task of helping small business owners throughout the UK deal with the impact and possible consequences of poor payment practices. Some of the areas that the casework team grapple with on a day-to-day basis include overdue invoices and delays to payments, the imposition of unreasonably long contract terms and sudden changes to payment arrangements resulting from wider commercial challenges.
Through the provision of free information and advice, and a programme of lobbying and influencing large business stakeholders, the OSBC works to keep payment issues at the forefront of UK business discussions.
Currently, the powers that the Small Business Commissioner and their team have access to are focused on helping to manage disputes between small business suppliers and larger business customers. The OSBC can work as an informal mediator between parties in a dispute, as well as offering information about other kinds of financial and legal help. Not all these services are directly linked to government: the OSBC can help small businesses make connections with local and third-sector agencies as well.
The OSBC team of expert caseworkers can provide:
• general advice and information about resolving payment disputes
• a signposting service to further support, and to dispute resolution services through the OSBC’s own website
• a complaints investigation service focused on incidences of poor payment practice between small businesses (those with 50 or fewer staff) and their larger business customers (those with more than 50 staff).
The OSBC has the power to make recommendations relating to these complaints and help with dispute resolution. The OSBC’s services are completely free to use, and investigations will be treated anonymously if requested.
ENDS