Kirsty Ross

For Scotland’s family business community, 2020 will be a year to forget. A global pandemic, lockdown and the ongoing unease over Brexit, have created monumental challenges, with many companies scaling back growth plans and questioning their long-term viability. 

In my day-to-day role, I speak frequently to families throughout the country. The conversations in recent weeks and months have been incredibly difficult, but there’s also some cause for cautious optimism.

The organisation, Family Business United highlights the strength and resilience of family-owned firms in Scotland. In recent research, it revealed that the oldest Scottish family business can trace its roots right back to 1715. In fact, the largest 15 family companies have a combined 2,855 years of experience behind them. In a time of crisis, history matters. Generational experience has enabled some of the country’s best-known brands to survive conflict, economic collapse and civil strife. In one conversation with a respected Scottish business, the current Directors shared their own tale of speaking to grandparents about how they managed to keep the company afloat throughout World War Two.

Earlier this month we celebrated Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight – an initiative devised to promote the country’s food and drink brands – from producers and suppliers to the pubs and restaurants that serve some of our finest products. In recent years, it’s been an opportunity to champion success. Every year, Scotland has been breaking new records for global food and drink exports, and welcoming scores of new boutique brands and artisan specialists. This year, there is no escaping the reality of what lies ahead. It’s hoped the coming days will enable the industry to come together and work out shared solutions to ensure its ongoing success.

KPMG’s recent joint-survey with the Scottish Licensed Trade Association revealed that almost half of all pub and bar owners were worried conditions wouldn’t improve until a vaccine was found. More than 12 thousand jobs in the bar and casual dining space are at risk – highlighting the potentially seismic impact Coronavirus could have on the industry.

It can sound cliched, but Scotland’s family-owned businesses really are the backbone of the country’s economy. A quick google search reveals that a huge proportion of the brand names we’ve grown up with and associate so strongly with Scotland remain in the control of the families that started them from often humble beginnings. 87.1% of private businesses in Scotland are family businesses – accounting for 32.2% of employment in our country. It is undeniably hard to put a simple number on the huge economic contribution these firms make to our economy, especially given their strong focus and support for their employees and local communities.

We’re facing a national crisis, and it’s hard to say when life will get back to normal, but I’m confident that with the right support and collaboration, our network of resilient family businesses will survive and continue to play a vital role in Scotland’s success.