Family Business Scale-ups: Breaking Barriers to Growth
The challenges to growing and scaling family businesses
Tax
Eight in ten mid-market and scaling family businesses have used, or plan to use, one or more government tax schemes. The most commonly used are the R&D reliefs, with 42% currently claiming them and a further 29% planning to do so.
tax credits. Half of mid-market and scaling family-business leaders would support a change allowing funding to be provided upfront – based on completed or planned R&D –then repaid through the tax credit system. Only 3% disagreed with this idea. Overall, 65% believe this approach would improve the current system, while 9% do not. The recent FBUK Policy Agenda 18 highlighted tax administration and compliance as the most burdensome area of regulation for mid-market family firms, with business rates and corporation tax having the greatest negative impact. There is also concern about Employer National Insurance Contributions.
Around a third have used Capital Allowances and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS)/Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS), but four in ten plan to use Capital Allowances and three in ten intend to use EIS or SEIS. Leaders of these businesses are keen to see improvements to the tax system to make it more supportive of growth. They particularly want a broader range of eligible claims, faster processing times and simpler, more accessible schemes. Consistency is also important: four in ten want government commitment that these schemes will continue beyond their current timelines. Currently, R&D costs must be incurred upfront and reclaimed later through
Unsurprisingly, support with these schemes – alongside reform of Inheritance Taxes such as Business Property Relief and Agricultural Property Relief – is seen as critical to enabling investment and growth over the next three years.
18 https://familybusinessuk.org/family-first-approach-in-new-fbuk-policy-agenda/ At the end of January 2026, Family Business UK surveyed more than 550 family firms of which 323 were in the mid-market.
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