Building Britain for Generations: A Policy Agenda for Family Businesses
Younger Generation Focus Family businesses care deeply about the people who work in their business and developing the next generation of talent to thrive and potentially take over the business.
Recommendation Short, bitesized training options must be available to family firms – particularly those who have unspent Growth and Skills Levy funds. There must be flexibility within the system so that zero funding is sent back to the Treasury.
Fig.5. shows what support is needed from the education and skills system to meet the needs of family businesses. A third of (34%) family businesses feel that more flexible training options for upskilling existing staff would better meet the needs of their family business.
Creating and sustaining good local jobs through investing in local skills or training, and supporting socially and economically disadvantaged groups into jobs, is a fundamental part of running a successful family business. And whilst family firms are investing in new technologies or digital tools, they state that the drive is to retain staff and upskill them. Family businesses are well placed to support young people into long-term sustainable jobs. Government must support this ambition to foster growth in apprenticeships and skills while family businesses take advantage of new technologies. FBUK survey data shows that a quarter (26%) of family businesses view labour and skills shortages as the main barrier to growth. 31% of family firms said that skills and training to support sustainable growth or exporting would help their family business grow. A Flexible Skills System Family businesses are flexible by their very nature. They undertake training but a lot of it is flexible and not recognised by accreditation bodies. The focus is on skills needed to carry out job-related tasks.
Fig.5 What changes or support, if any, would you most like to see from the education and skills system to better meet the needs of your family business?
Flexible training options for upskilling existing staff
34.0%
Better practical, work ready skills among school leavers
33.1%
Training in digital skills and new technologies
30.9%
Stronger partnerships between schools/colleges and local businesses
28.3%
More apprenticeships aligned with our industry
27.2%
Support for leadership and succession planning in family firms
26.7%
More vocational and technical training options
23.8%
More focus on lifelong money skills
22.2%
None in particular
7.7%
Other, please specify
0.2%
0
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20
25
30
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