Building Britain for Generations: A Policy Agenda for Family Businesses
Energy Costs Tackling the high cost of energy on businesses is a critical issue for family businesses. Dependent on which sector you are in, there is a lack of support for businesses looking to invest in energy efficiency or decarbonisation. Many long-term family businesses are based in traditional industries within older business premises, which, in many cases, will be harder to retrofit and so there needs to be an understanding of the impacts of high energy costs on these businesses. Three in 10 (30%) family firms say energy costs or volatility will be the main barrier to growth. This is particularly prevalent in sectors including retail, hospitality and leisure
intensive businesses that fall into the Industrial Strategy key sectors being exempt from paying the indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation, Feed-in Tariffs, and the Capacity Market. The exemptions are likely to begin from April 2027, potentially cutting energy costs by up to 25%. However, many sectors with large swathes of family businesses are still facing cripplingly high energy bills, and so support is needed in other sectors. Applying relief to businesses would help ensure a fair and consistent transition for all energy users. Domestic energy customers have also recently benefited from an announcement to shift 75% of Renewable Obligation costs from energy bills to general taxation to offset rising price cap pressures. Business do not benefit from this change.
The Regulatory Cost of Doing Business For successive Governments, there has been a lack of clear direction on the regulatory pathway that best fits
which have tighter margins. There will be a targeted energy discount scheme 20 with energy
business sector. 45% of micro family businesses felt that not a single regulation had a positive impact, compared to almost a quarter (23%) across the whole survey base.
the UK. The ‘Better Regulation’ or ‘Deregulatory’ agenda has become a tug of war across departments. Government needs to provide a direction of travel for business to have greater certainty. FBUK’s survey 21 shows that positive regulatory perceptions are strongest for health and safety (25%) and data protection (21%), especially in the highly regulated sectors. Micro family businesses are much less likely to see positive impacts compared with the rest of the family
Negative sentiment exists, with businesses saying tax
Recommendation Review the impact of rising energy standing charges on businesses, with specific attention to how these increases constrain family firms’ ability to invest in energy‑efficiency measures and decarbonisation. Extend to businesses the same approach taken for households regarding exemption from paying the Renewable Obligation Levy. Business should receive a similar benefit which the Treasury could treat as a ‘fiscal offset’ through lower inflation.
administration (29%) employment regulation (26%), trade, customs or export regulation (17%) are the three most bureaucratic and time intensive areas of regulation. Certain sectors show the widest gap between positive and negative scores, notably the Legal, HR, and IT sectors, indicating uneven regulatory experiences.
20 British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme: consultation on scheme eligibility and approach – GOV.UK. 21 Censuswide Survey commissioned for Family Business UK, Jan-Feb 2026
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