Economic Pressures And Regulation Top The 2025 Family Business Agenda

Family Business United (FBU) has today released the findings of its 2025 Family Business Survey, providing a detailed snapshot of the challenges and priorities currently shaping the UK’s family business landscape. Conducted in July 2025, the survey canvassed opinions from family firms of all sizes and sectors across the UK, revealing a community that continues to demonstrate resilience but faces mounting pressure from a complex and uncertain trading environment.

When asked to identify the key challenges currently facing their businesses — the issues that together define the prevailing UK family business agenda — respondents highlighted a broad range of economic, operational, and generational concerns.

The top-ranked challenges for 2025 are:

1. The economic climate – 68%

2. Government regulation, red tape and legislation – 60%

3. Taxation – 53%

4. Inflation and rising costs – 42%

5. Profitability – 36%

6. Succession planning – 27%

7. Survival of the business – 24%

8. Recruiting, retaining and motivating staff – 23%

9. Global political uncertainty – 19%

10. The next generation – 18%

11. Preserving wealth and creating a legacy – 17%

12. Cyber security – 16%

These findings follow a key headline from the same survey showing that 70% of respondents feel less optimistic about their business prospects compared to last year, reflecting the wider challenges facing family firms in the current political and economic climate.

Paul Andrews, Founder and CEO of Family Business United, commented: “Family businesses are the backbone of the UK economy — deeply rooted in their communities, creating jobs, and driving innovation. However, the 2025 survey clearly illustrates the scale of the pressures they are currently under."

"From navigating an unpredictable economic climate and increased regulation to dealing with taxation, inflation, and rising costs, it’s no surprise that confidence levels have dipped this year.”

"It is also worrying to see that just under a quarter of family business leaders across the UK have expressed concern over the actual survival of their business and a third concerned over profitability. This should be of significant concern to policy makers as it reflects the deep levels of uncertainty within the family business community at present."

“Despite these challenges, we know that family businesses are determined and resilient and will do their utmost to survive by adapting and evolving, although this detracts them from working on long term plans for growth and sustainability. Issues such as succession planning, staff engagement, and legacy preservation remain central to their long-term vision. These are businesses that think beyond the next quarter — they think in generations — and that long-term mindset continues to be one of their greatest strengths but this needs to be understood by those making decisions that at present are seeing significant and difficult decisions being made that are essential for the long term survival of many family firms across the UK."

The results also suggest that while economic and regulatory challenges dominate the short-term agenda, strategic family issues such as next-generation involvement, succession, and wealth preservation continue to feature prominently, highlighting the unique dynamics that distinguish family businesses from their non-family counterparts.

Andrews added: “Understanding the evolving family business agenda is vital."

"It helps inform policymakers, advisers and stakeholders so that support and policy frameworks can be better aligned to the realities that family firms face day-to-day. Family businesses want to thrive, but they need an environment that enables them to do so.”

The full 2025 Family Business Survey Report will be published shortly.