How a West Sussex farm became one of England's most celebrated vineyards There is a pleasing irony in the fact that one of England's most acclaimed sparkling wine estates was, not so long ago, growing iceberg lettuces. Tinwood Estate, tucked into the hamlet of Halnaker just north of Chichester at the foot of the South Downs, has undergone one of the more remarkable agricultural transformations in modern British farming, and the bottles produced here are now being mentioned in the same breath as the great houses of Champagne. Paul Andrews spoke to Art Tukker to find out more. The story begins not with vines, but with a Dutch farmer named Aad Tukker, who arrived in Britain in the early 1980s to work for Marks & Spencer as an agricultural consultant. In 1985, he purchased the land at Tinwood and put it to work growing iceberg lettuce, reportedly producing the UK's first Icebergs for M&S. For two decades, the farm fulfilled its purpose. But by the mid-2000s, the margins on lettuces were becoming increasingly unsustainable, and the family faced a decision about the land's future. That decision fell to Art Tukker, Aad's son, who was just 21 years old at the time. In a bold stroke for someone so young, he ripped out the lettuce and planted vines. As Art explained, “It was a bold decision on many fronts as I was only 21 and at the time was studying to be a lettuce farmer whilst writing a dissertation on wine." "It was at a time when everyone was talking about the potential for wine in England and my interest was ignited and the idea began to take shape.” The Leap of Faith It was 2007, and English sparkling wine was still a proposition met with more scepticism than excitement. The climate, the soils, the traditional view that the English couldn't produce a wine worth talking about, all of it could have given a young man pause. Art Tukker pressed on regardless. The geology beneath Tinwood's feet gave him good reason for confidence. The estate sits on flinty, chalky soils over the greensand and chalk of the South Downs, terrain that bears a striking resemblance to the sub-soil of Champagne's great vineyards. Warm, free-draining, and blessed with a southerly aspect that maximises sun exposure, the land was, it turned out, almost perfectly suited to growing the classic Champagne varieties: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier. Art took time to learn his craft by spending ten months in the Marlborough region in New Zealand, working on a small vineyard where he worked for a full season getting involved in all aspects of the wine process from the first cut to the harvest and bottling. “I learnt such a lot in that short time,” continues Art, “enjoying the outdoor life but also seeing how they incorporated tastings and tourism into the business model. Many of the things you see in Tinwood today came from those early years, and subsequent travels, such as the picnic boxes, flight tastings and accommodation.” Art planted the first 28 acres of vines in 2007. The first grapes were harvested two years later. But he did not attempt to go it alone. Recognising that great grapes demand great winemaking, he forged a partnership with Ridgeview Wine Estate, one of the pioneers of English sparkling wine, investing in their winery and creating a relationship that would prove central to Tinwood's rise. There wines are made by Ridgeview's award-winning winemakers, using the traditional method: the same labour-intensive process employed in Champagne, in which the secondary fermentation takes place in the bottle. The first bottle of Tinwood sparkling wine was opened in 2011, in the kitchen of Art's sister Janine. The family, by Art's own account, were apprehensive as they sipped the first vintage of Blanc de Blancs. They needn't have worried. As Art adds, “It was a great moment for us as a family because as we sipped the wine, we realised that we were on to something and from that moment on the business has simply gone from strength to strength.” The Wines Tinwood produces three core sparkling wines, all made exclusively from fruit grown on the estate, a single-vineyard approach that distinguishes the estate from producers who blend fruit from multiple sources. The Blanc de Blancs is the estate's flagship, a 100% Chardonnay wine that has become its most decorated. Pale gold in colour, it delivers notes of green apple, citrus, and brioche, with the fine persistent mousse that marks a wine made with genuine care. It is the wine that put Tinwood on the map internationally. The Estate Brut blends all three grape varieties in the classic Champagne style, offering greater complexity and depth — red berry fruit mingling with stone fruit and a toasty, biscuity finish. The Rosé, made primarily from Pinot Noir, brings delicate strawberry and raspberry fruit with an elegance that belies the relative youth of the vines. Since those first bottles were opened, the vineyard has grown substantially. Today, over 110 acres of vines thrive across the estate, with some 190,000 individual plants. In a good year, production reaches around 200,000 bottles — though as any English winemaker will tell you, the weather rarely makes for entirely straightforward harvests. In 2017, a single frosty night in April wiped out 70% of the crop, reducing production to just 30,000 bottles. “It was a brutal reminder of how precarious wine growing in England can be and of the resilience required to pursue it,” explains Art. World-Class Recognition The sceptics have been comprehensively silenced. In 2022, Tinwood scored a remarkable double triumph in the same month, winning Gold at both the International Wine Challenge (IWC) and the International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) for its Blanc de Blancs. At the IWSC, only seven sparkling wines in the world received Gold that year; five were from Champagne, and one of the remaining two was from a West Sussex lettuce farm turned vineyard. Art reflected on the achievement with characteristic understatement: "When we planted our vines here on the family farm 15 years ago, we never dreamt that we would be winning Gold medals in the world's largest wine competitions, not just once but twice in the same month. It proves the soil and location here in Sussex allows us to grow world-class quality wines." The estate has also been awarded Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status for its wine — a guarantee of quality and geographical provenance that places Sussex sparkling wine in the same category of protected regional produce as Champagne, Bordeaux, and Rioja. In 2023, Tinwood was named English Vineyard of the Year by the Travel & Hospitality Awards. Farming with Nature Beyond the awards and the accolades, Tinwood carries a distinct environmental philosophy. Art and his wife Jody are committed to working with the landscape rather than against it. The estate entered the Entry Level Stewardship scheme in 2010; a government initiative aimed at protecting the character and ecology of the British countryside. No insecticides are used anywhere on the estate. Wildflower meadows have been planted throughout the farm, new hedgerows established, and wildflowers sown amongst the vines themselves to encourage biodiversity and support pollinators. The approach reflects a belief that the health of the soil and the surrounding ecosystem is inseparable from the quality of what ends up in the glass. Visiting Tinwood The estate is open all year round and has developed a visitor offering that has become a destination in its own right for food and wine lovers across the South East. The Vineyard Tour and Tasting takes guests out amongst the vines for roughly an hour and a half, telling the story of the estate and the journey from grape to glass, before retiring to the tasting room to sample the sparkling wine range. The Vineyard Kitchen serves a tapas-style menu of small plates designed to pair with the wines, locally sourced and thoughtfully composed. At weekends, a Sunday roast has become something of a local institution, with hearty sharing platters for two and puddings to match. For those who want to linger longer, the estate offers luxury vineyard lodges — eight in total, all with private terraces overlooking the vines, super king-size beds dressed in Egyptian cotton, walk-in showers, and two-person Jacuzzi baths. Breakfast arrives at your door in a wicker hamper. Bicycles are provided for exploring the surrounding countryside, which takes in nearby Boxgrove Priory and miles of South Downs footpaths. The estate is dog-friendly, thoroughly welcoming, and set in surroundings of considerable beauty. On a clear day, the views across the vines towards the South Downs are as fine as any in England. A Family's Legacy What makes Tinwood compelling is not just the wine, though the wine is excellent, but the human story behind it. A Dutch farming family that arrived in Sussex four decades ago, found its footing growing lettuce, and then, when the world changed around them, had the imagination and courage to transform the land into something extraordinary. Art did not inherit a vineyard. He created one, from scratch, on a farm better known for salad leaves, in a country still finding its confidence as a wine producer. Today, with over 110 acres under vine, a cellar full of awards, and eight luxury lodges overlooking some of the most beautiful countryside in southern England, Tinwood Estate stands as one of the finest arguments for taking English sparkling wine seriously. The iceberg lettuces are long gone. In their place, something considerably more effervescent. “It’s been quite a journey,” continues Art, “and we have exciting plans for the future, plus two young sons so who knows where the longer-term journey will take us. It was a leap of faith but one that I am thrilled that we took. We have a fantastic team around us that work to deliver a unique experience and as a family in business we remain excited for what comes next.” “It is an exciting sector to be in, we work outdoors creating a tangible product and there is excitement at the start of each season too. It is also special because our product is used for memories, celebrations and special times when friends and family come together." "It still makes me smile to see people happily drinking a glass of our English Sparkling Wine and I will be forever proud of what we have created here at Tinwood,” concludes Art. Tinwood Estate is located at Tinwood Lane, Halnaker, Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 0NE. Vineyard tours, wine tastings, dining, and accommodation can be booked at tinwoodestate.com

There is a word that comes up in almost every conversation about family business, spoken with a mixture of pride, weight, and occasional anxiety. Legacy. It gets used to justify decisions, to frame succession plans, to explain why the business exists at all. And yet, if you ask ten family business owners what legacy actually means to them, you will get ten quite different answers. For some, it is the business itself — the name above the door, the employees whose mortgages depend on the firm continuing to trade, the market share built over decades. For others, it is something more intangible: a set of values, a way of treating people, a standard of craftsmanship or care that the family has always stood for. For others still, it is deeply personal — the promise to a parent who sacrificed everything to build something worth passing on. None of these answers is wrong. But the confusion between them is the source of more family business conflict than most people ever acknowledge. Legacy Is Not The Same As The Business This is perhaps the most important distinction to make, and the one that is most frequently blurred. The business is the vehicle. Legacy is what the vehicle is carrying. When those two things are conflated, families can find themselves trapped — reluctant to sell, restructure, or change direction even when doing so would clearly serve the family better, because any change feels like a betrayal of something sacred. The businesses that manage legacy most effectively are those that have taken the time to separate the two questions. What do we want to preserve? And what is the best structure for preserving it? Sometimes those questions lead to the conclusion that the family business should be sold, merged, or transformed beyond recognition — and that this is entirely consistent with honouring what the founders built. The Danger Of An Unexamined Legacy Legacy that has never been properly articulated tends to become a constraint rather than a compass. It gets invoked to resist change, to exclude the next generation from real decision-making, or to shut down conversations that need to happen. "That's not how we do things here" can be a legitimate statement of values, or it can be a way of avoiding the discomfort of evolution. Often, it is both at once. The families who navigate this most successfully are those who have made the effort to translate legacy into something concrete. Not a vague sense of "what our grandparents built," but a clear articulation of the values, behaviours, and purposes that the family actually wants to carry forward. That process is rarely comfortable. It surfaces disagreements, generational differences, and questions that have been quietly avoided for years. But it is also, almost invariably, one of the most valuable conversations a family business can have. Starting The Conversation If your family has never formally discussed what legacy means to you, it is worth starting simply. Not with documents or governance structures, but with stories. Ask the founders, or those who remember them, what they were trying to build. Ask the current generation what they are most proud of, and most determined to protect. Ask the next generation what they want the business to stand for in another thirty years. The answers will not all align. But in the gaps between them, you will find the real work of legacy — not preserving the past exactly as it was, but understanding it well enough to carry its essence forward into a future that looks nothing like it. Legacy is not a museum. It is a living thing, and like all living things, it needs tending, not just protecting.

Ask the leaders of any family business that has survived more than two or three generations what has kept them going, and very few will point to a particular strategy, a product innovation, or a piece of financial engineering. The answers, almost without exception, come back to something less tangible: the way the family does things. The values that were there before anyone had thought to write them down, and that have shaped every significant decision since. This is not sentimentality. It is one of the most consistently observed characteristics of enduring family firms, and it is worth taking seriously. Values As Competitive Advantage In a world where businesses of all kinds talk endlessly about culture and purpose, family firms have something that most corporate entities genuinely struggle to replicate: values that were lived before they were articulated. They did not emerge from a brand workshop or a strategy away-day. They came from the founder's kitchen table, from the way the first employees were treated, from the decisions that were made under pressure when no one was watching. That authenticity is not just ethically appealing. It is commercially powerful. Customers who trust a family business often do so because they sense that the values underpinning it are real. Staff who stay for decades in family firms frequently cite the culture as the reason. The values are the business, in ways that no asset on the balance sheet can fully capture. When Values Are Inherited But Not Examined There is, however, a risk in values that are passed down rather than actively chosen. Each generation inherits a set of beliefs about how the business should operate, what it owes its people and its community, and what it will and will not do in pursuit of profit. Some of those beliefs are worth defending fiercely. Others, on closer examination, turn out to be habits rather than principles — customs that made sense in a different era but which no longer serve the business or the family well. The challenge for every incoming generation is to distinguish between the two. To ask, with genuine honesty: which of these values do we actually hold? Which are we living authentically, and which are we performing out of obligation? This is not about disrespecting what came before. It is about ensuring that the values which carry the family's name into the future are ones that the current generation believes in with the same conviction as those who founded the firm. Making Values Explicit Many family businesses operate with values that everyone somehow knows but no one has ever formally agreed. The senior generation understands them intuitively because they have lived them. The next generation has absorbed them by osmosis. The non-family employees interpret them as best they can from the signals around them. This works, up to a point. But as businesses grow, as more family members become involved, as non-family leaders take on senior roles, the implicit becomes harder to rely on. Misunderstandings multiply. Decisions get made that feel wrong to some people but are perfectly logical to others, because the underlying values were never actually shared. The process of making values explicit — of sitting down as a family, and as a leadership team, and agreeing what the business stands for — is uncomfortable precisely because it is clarifying. It will reveal disagreements. It will force some things to change. It will require the business to be honest about the gap between its stated identity and its actual behaviour. That discomfort is worth it. The family businesses that have done this work, that have a clear and genuinely shared understanding of their values, are better equipped to make difficult decisions, to weather external pressures, and to bring the next generation in with confidence. What Gets Passed Down In the end, what family businesses leave to their successors is not a building or a brand. It is a way of being in the world — an accumulated wisdom about how to treat people, how to handle adversity, and what the business is ultimately for. The balance sheet will change. The markets will shift. The products and services will evolve beyond recognition. But the values, if they are real and if they are tended, will outlast all of it. They are the truest form of legacy that any family business can leave.

Succession is one of the most written about subjects in family business. It is also one of the most poorly executed. Across generations and geographies, the same patterns repeat: transition plans that stall, timelines that slip, next generation leaders who are technically in post but not truly in charge. Understanding why requires looking honestly at what holds the older generation back. Identity is not a job title you can simply remove For many founders and long serving family business leaders, the business is not something they do. It is who they are. Decades of decision making, of carrying the weight of payroll and reputation and family expectation, do not dissolve the moment a successor is named. When the business is taken away, even voluntarily, what remains can feel disorienting. The question "who am I without this?" is rarely asked out loud, but it sits underneath almost every stalled succession conversation. Until there is a compelling answer to that question, stepping back feels less like freedom and more like loss. Fear dressed up as concern It is easy for the older generation to articulate their hesitation in entirely rational terms. The next generation is not quite ready. The market is too volatile right now. There are a few more things to put in place first. Some of these concerns are genuine. Many are fear in more socially acceptable clothing. Fear that the business they built or inherited and grew will be damaged. Fear of being seen to have made the wrong choice in a successor. Fear, if they are honest, that the next generation might actually do it differently and succeed anyway. That last one is perhaps the most difficult to admit. Control as a form of love In family businesses, the line between protecting the enterprise and protecting the relationship is often blurred. Many senior generation leaders experienced their own difficult transitions, or were never properly handed the reins themselves, and carry that unresolved experience into how they lead and how they let go. Holding on can feel like an act of care. It is a way of saying: I am still here, I still matter, I am still keeping you safe. The problem is that it communicates something very different to the next generation leader waiting in the wings. The governance gap Sometimes the barrier is structural rather than psychological. There is no board with real authority. There is no agreed process for resolving disagreements about the direction of the business. There is no forum in which the transition can be discussed openly without it feeling like a personal confrontation. When governance is weak, succession becomes a conversation that happens around the edges, in corridors and at family dinners, rather than through a process that gives everyone a legitimate voice. That ambiguity tends to favour the status quo, which means it tends to favour the person already in charge. Financial dependence on the business For many older generation leaders, particularly those who have reinvested heavily over the years, the business remains the primary source of financial security. Stepping back is not just an emotional act. It is a financial one. If the structures are not in place to ensure that the senior generation can live well and with dignity outside of active leadership, the reluctance to step back is entirely rational. This is one of the most practical and most overlooked barriers in succession planning. The absence of a next chapter Retirement, in the conventional sense, holds little appeal for most family business leaders. They are not people who have been waiting for the chance to play golf. What they need is not an exit but a transition to something else that carries meaning. Whether that is a non executive role, a philanthropic platform, a mentoring relationship, or a new venture entirely, the move away from operational leadership becomes far more possible when there is something to move towards. The barrier is often not the leaving. It is the not knowing what comes next. When the next generation has not yet earned the confidence This one deserves to be named clearly because it is real. Sometimes the older generation is holding on not out of ego or fear but because the next generation leader has not yet demonstrated, in a way that feels convincing, that they are ready. That might be about experience, or judgment, or the ability to hold the family together under pressure. Readiness is not just a function of time. It has to be earned and it has to be visible. Where that evidence is missing, or where it has never been given the chance to accumulate, the transition stalls. What makes the difference The family businesses that navigate this well tend to share a few things in common. They start the conversation early, before there is urgency. They invest in governance structures that depersonalise difficult decisions. They create genuine roles and recognition for the senior generation outside of operational leadership. And they are honest, sometimes with the help of a trusted external voice, about what is really going on beneath the surface. Succession is not a transaction. It is a process of letting go and growing up, on both sides. The businesses that understand that are the ones that make it to the next generation intact Category succession, leadership, next generation, people matters and insights

GAP Hire Solutions has strengthened its nationwide network with the opening of a brand-new, strategically located Pumps, Power & Environmental (PP&E) depot in Carnforth, enhancing services for customers across the North West. Located at GAP Group Ltd, 6c Keer Park, Carnforth, LA5 9FG, the new depot expands GAP’s ability to support local infrastructure, utilities, construction and environmental projects with a comprehensive range of Pump Services, Power Generation (up to 100kVA), and Environmental Services. This investment reinforces GAP’s commitment to delivering responsive, expert support where customers need it most. The Carnforth depot’s strategic location enables faster mobilisation, reduced downtime, and improved service coverage across the wider region. Richard Broughton, Head of Pump, Power and Environmental Solutions, commented, “The opening of our Carnforth depot is a clear statement of intent. We’re investing in the locations and capabilities that allow us to be genuinely responsive to our customers, getting the right equipment to the right place, faster." "The North West is an important market for us, and this depot puts us in a much stronger position to support the infrastructure and construction projects that are driving growth across the region.”

The world is changing faster than most leadership models were built to handle. For family businesses, that creates both a particular pressure and a particular opportunity. The next generation of family business CEOs will need to bring something that conventional corporate leadership programmes rarely develop: the ability to hold complexity without flinching from it. Owning the long view At the heart of effective family business leadership is a relationship with time that most publicly listed companies simply cannot replicate. The family business CEO of the future will not be managing to a quarterly cycle. They will be thinking in decades, sometimes generations. That means investment decisions, talent decisions, and even values decisions are made against a longer horizon. It is a genuine competitive advantage, but only if the leader at the top has internalised it rather than just inherited it. Bridging family and enterprise One of the most demanding skills in any family business is the ability to move fluently between two very different systems: the family and the business. These operate on different logics. The family runs on loyalty, history, and emotion. The business runs on performance, accountability, and market reality. The CEO of the future will need to hold both without collapsing one into the other. That requires emotional intelligence, yes, but more specifically it requires the capacity to have hard conversations with people they love, to separate role from relationship, and to build governance structures that protect both. Grounded in purpose, fluent in change Family businesses often carry a deep sense of why they exist. That founding purpose is an asset, but it can also become a constraint if it is treated as fixed rather than living. The next generation CEO will know how to honour the spirit of what the founders built while translating it into something that makes sense in a different economic, technological, and social context. That is not a betrayal of legacy. That is what stewardship actually looks like. Building trust across stakeholders The talent, the communities, the customers, and the wider family ownership group all need to feel that the person leading this business is someone they can trust. That trust is not built through charisma alone. It is built through consistency, through transparency, and through a demonstrated willingness to take responsibility when things go wrong. Family businesses often have reputations that span generations. The CEO of the future will understand that theirs to protect, and theirs to extend. Digital and human in equal measure Technology is not optional. The family business CEO of the future will need to be genuinely conversant with digital transformation, AI, and data as strategic tools, not just operational ones. But they will also know that the family business model is fundamentally human. Relationships, trust, and commitment are not things that can be automated. The skill is knowing when to deploy technology and when to lean into the irreducibly personal. Knowing when to lead and when to convene Not every challenge requires a directive from the top. Some of the most important work a family business CEO does is to convene the right people around the right questions and then create the conditions for good decisions to emerge. That takes confidence rather than ego, and a willingness to share credit alongside accountability. The family business CEO of the future is not a superhero archetype. They are someone who has done the inner work, built the relationships, and developed the judgment to lead an institution that means something to a lot of people. That is a profound responsibility. And in the right hands, it is also a remarkable platform.

Aldi Scotland store manager Stevie Clark has launched the nation’s first “Hope Insurance”, a new scheme to help fans survive the rollercoaster of Scotland’s first men’s World Cup in nearly 30 years. The supermarket’s new campaign aims to protect fans against the highs and lows of the tournament and is backed by Aldi Scotland store manager Stevie Clark, who shares his name with the Scotland team gaffer. Aldi’s ‘Hope Insurance’ is believed to be the nation’s first-ever “policy” created to help soften the emotional swings Scotland fans will face during the tournament and takes aim at the Scottish football motto that it’s the “hope that kills you”. In a light-hearted nod to this enduring optimism and the emotional investment fans make every tournament, the initiative will offer rewards whenever Scotland suffers a setback. Hope Insurance is free to register for, with prizes paid out when goals are conceded or matches are lost. However, reinforcing Aldi’s commitment to backing supporters through every twist of the campaign, the biggest reward is reserved for the ultimate high should Scotland defy the odds and progress. New research commissioned by Aldi and conducted by ScotPulse, surveying more than 1,140 Scots, found that optimism is running high, with 77% believing Scotland has a chance of progressing beyond the group stages. This suggests a majority of fans are at risk of early heartbreak within the opening weeks of the competition. Among diehard football fans, optimism is even higher, with 83% believing this could be Scotland’s year to make history. Aldi’s research also highlights the nation’s strong commitment to supporting the team, with 82% of Scots saying they will follow Scotland during the World Cup. Meanwhile, one in six plan to stay up into the early hours to watch matches live. Aldi is the biggest supporter of Scottish food and drink and the nation’s leading supermarket for locally sourced products. In October 2025, it was named in NFU Scotland’s ShelfWatch Mid-Year Report as the most prominent retailer supporting Scottish produce, with 41% of its shelf stock now sourced locally. The launch of Hope Insurance celebrates Aldi’s position as one of Scotland’s most trusted supermarkets for Scottish goods, supporting millions of customers during what is expected to be one of the country’s biggest cultural sporting moments in generations. Stevie Clark, deputy store manager at Aldi Scotland, said: “I’ve had so many customers over the years joking about me sharing the same name as the Scotland manager, and I’m sure that will only ramp up during the World Cup." “Like everyone else at Aldi, I’ve got my fingers crossed for Steve and the team and we really hope the team can deliver the history-making achievement we’ve been waiting for. But as the saying goes, it’s the hope that kills you." “Our first-ever Hope Insurance guarantees lucky fans a little something to smile about if things don’t go our way. We really hope we don’t have to pay out, but like all insurance policies, it’s there just in case.” Regardless of the result, fans can trust that Aldi will bring the nation the great deals on Scottish food and drink. To register for Aldi’s free Hope Insurance, shoppers simply need to email scottishcompetition@aldi.co.uk and share their optimism for Scotland’s World Cup campaign. More details can be found here. Find your nearest Aldi store, here.

Aldi has announced a £5 billion investment in British farming and food production through a series of long-term agreements with UK suppliers. The supermarket said the deals will give farmers and producers greater certainty to invest in their businesses while helping strengthen British food supply chains. The agreements, which typically last at least two years, cover fresh fruit and veg, dairy, meat and eggs, with Aldi aiming to source 50% of its domestic produce through long-term agreements by the end of 2027. The move includes a £1.1 billion commitment to British egg production over the next five years. As part of its push to champion home-grown food, Aldi has also teamed up with farmer and TV personality Harriet Cowan to encourage shoppers to buy more British-grown fruit and vegetables. It comes as new research found many shoppers do not realise vegetables including cucumbers, courgettes and aubergines can all be grown in the UK. The poll of 2,000 adults found that while 80% say supporting British farmers is important to them, only 27% actively consider whether fruit and vegetables are grown in Britain when deciding what to buy.* Harriet Cowan said: “I’m passionate about highlighting the brilliant work British farmers do to bring high-quality food to our tables. I’ve loved teaming up with Aldi to learn more about the fruit and veg we grow here in the UK and to shine a light on what’s in season.” Julie Ashfield, Chief Commercial Officer at Aldi UK, said: “British suppliers are at the heart of our business. These long-term agreements give farmers and producers the confidence to plan ahead, invest in their operations and build resilient supply chains.” Among Aldi’s long-term partnerships is Kent-based grower AC Goatham & Son, its sole supplier of British apples, through a dedicated “Aldi Orchard” supplying stores nationwide. To help shoppers make the most of British produce, Harriet has also picked a series of seasonal recipes, including Creamy Pea and Pesto Pasta Skillet, Pork Tenderloin with Rhubarb Sauce, Beef and Pepper Stir Fry, and Hot Honey Carrots. Recipes are available here. *Research carried out in May 2026 by OnePoll on a sample of 2,000 UK adults.

Barclays’ Q1 2026 Business Prosperity Index reveals that the vast majority of UK businesses (85 per cent) remain confident in the strength of their business, despite 80 per cent reporting a negative impact from the Middle East conflict. Businesses are doubling down on technology investment, with rising AI investment now matched by a sharp increase in cybersecurity spending. Key findings from the Q1 Index show: Geopolitical tensions continue to weigh on sentiment, with one in five (20 per cent) pausing overall investment in light of geopolitical uncertainty. Larger firms have increased longer-term borrowing suggesting their investment. plans remain intact, while SMEs are building further resilience through savings buffers. 68 per cent expect to increase cybersecurity investment over the next 12 months, but almost half (46 per cent) believe the adoption of new technologies is increasing their exposure to cybersecurity risks. Six in 10 (61 per cent) now proactively use agentic AI, with cloud, cyber and AI together accounting for 44 per cent of planned technology budgets over the next year. Firms expect to grow revenues and investment but are split on how to handle rising cost More than four in five UK businesses (81 per cent) expect revenues to increase next quarter and 83 per cent are confident in their prospects over the next year. Looking ahead, more than half (54 per cent) are planning to increase overall investment in the next 12 months. Barclays anonymised client data from around 900,000 UK businesses comparing Q1 2026 to Q1 2025, showed the diverging ways smaller and larger firms are responding to uncertainty. SMEs within Barclays Business Bank saw a modest uptick in cash inflows (+0.2 per cent), continuing to build savings buffers (+1.5 per cent) and cut borrowing (‑13.1 per cent). Larger corporates within Barclays UK Corporate Bank saw a reduction in cash entering (-7.0 per cent) and leaving businesses (-6.1 per cent) as they reduced savings (-5.2 per cent). These larger firms have simultaneously increased longer term borrowing (+6.9 per cent) and reduced shorter-term overdraft borrowing (-11.8 per cent), suggesting future investment plans remain intact. Businesses of all sizes are split on their pricing strategy in response to rising costs, with 37 per cent passing them on to customers and 32 per cent absorbing the impact within margins. Matt Hammerstein, CEO of Barclays UK Corporate Bank, said: “UK businesses are now operating in an environment where uncertainty has become the norm. Geopolitical instability and persistently high costs are feeding directly into cashflows, borrowing decisions and investment plans." “What’s striking, however, is how businesses are responding. Rather than pulling back entirely, many are adapting to this new reality by tightening financial discipline, managing cash carefully and prioritising investment where it strengthens resilience, productivity and long-term competitiveness.” Cyber security becomes boardroom priority Resilience is now a key focus, with recent global turmoil putting cybersecurity at the forefront of many businesses’ priorities, with fewer than three in 10 (29 per cent) confident in their ability to respond to a major cyber incident. In response, almost seven in 10 (68 per cent) are planning to increase their cybersecurity investment over the next 12 months. However, businesses are seeking to find a balance between adoption and exposure. While 82 per cent are confident that their cybersecurity capabilities are keeping pace, almost half (46 per cent) are concerned that these technologies are increasing their exposure to cybersecurity risks. As technologies develop at pace, large businesses are eager to increase their investment, while micro businesses are adapting more slowly. More than one third (36 per cent) of large firms have increased cybersecurity investment since the start of 2026, falling to 26 per cent of smaller businesses and 4 per cent of micro businesses. With additional finance, large firms say they would prioritise further cyber security (24 per cent) alongside AI investment (24 per cent). The average amount decision makers have spent on cybersecurity to date in 2026 is £505,000. This rises significantly to £1.3million for large businesses, but falls to £134,000 for small businesses and £15,000 for micros. Over half of firms now use agentic AI Alongside rising cyber investment, businesses are doubling down on AI and automation to improve efficiency and offset cost pressures. More than half of businesses (52 per cent) believe AI and automation has improved their productivity, with employees now spending less time on administrative tasks (38 per cent), becoming faster at decision-making (34 per cent) and spending more time on higher value work (31 per cent). The way businesses are using AI has evolved too, with six in 10 (61 per cent) now using agentic AI to some extent in their operations. Abdul Qureshi, Head of Barclays Business Banking said: “SMEs are navigating higher costs and ongoing uncertainty, which continues to weigh on day-to-day decisions. While larger firms push ahead with longer-term borrowing, many smaller businesses are focused on building cash buffers and closely managing their financial position. At the same time, AI is starting to present tangible opportunities for SMEs, particularly where it can help improve productivity and make everyday tasks more efficient.” Barclays Business Prosperity Fund To support businesses to invest in resilience and growth, The Barclays Business Prosperity Fund is available for new and existing Business Banking customers and UK Corporate Banking clients across the UK to apply for lending and refinancing on existing projects. Businesses can find out more at: home.barclays/businessprosperity. £22bn is the total amount of lending Barclays has available to lend and support business growth among Business Banking and UK Corporate Banking clients in 2026. Subject to normal lending assessment, status and application. Terms and conditions apply.

One of the world's leading champions of family enterprise has today launched a landmark Pledge that enables family businesses everywhere to publicly affirm the principles that set them apart: stewardship, people, community, integrity, sustainability, heritage and the sharing of knowledge. Family Business United has today launched the Family Business Pledge: a voluntary commitment open to family firms of every size, sector and generation that want to stand together and demonstrate that doing business the right way and doing business successfully are not in conflict. They are one and the same. The Pledge invites family businesses from corner shops to century-old enterprises to publicly commit to seven core principles that reflect the values at the heart of family enterprise. It is free to sign, open to all, and backed by a suite of resources to help signatories share their commitment with the world. Why the Pledge, and Why Now Family businesses are the backbone of the global economy. They employ more people, contribute more to communities and think further into the future than any other form of enterprise. Yet the pressures of short-termism, rapid technological change and globalisation can pull even the most principled business away from what matters most. Family Business United created the Pledge to give family firms a simple, powerful way to reaffirm their identity, stand with their peers and send a clear signal to employees, customers, suppliers and communities that their values are not negotiable. As Paul Andrews, Founder and CEO of Family Business United explains: “Family businesses are the oldest, most enduring form of business in the world. They are built on trust, shaped by values and driven by a desire to create something that lasts." "The Family Business Pledge exists to celebrate that, and to give family firms everywhere a way to say: this is who we are, this is what we believe, and we are proud of it." The Seven Principles of the Pledge By signing the Family Business Pledge, businesses commit to seven principles that reflect the best of family enterprise: Stewardship over short-termism: making decisions with the next generation in mind, prioritising long-term health over short-term profit. People before profit: fostering a people-first culture built on trust, respect and long-term relationships where employees are valued as individuals. Rooted in community: actively investing in the places and people around them, recognising that their success is inseparable from the communities they serve. Governance with integrity: upholding transparent, ethical governance and welcoming accountability at every level. Sustainability for future generations: taking environmental responsibilities seriously, knowing that the world left behind matters as much as the business. Preserving the founder’s spirit: honouring the values, purpose and entrepreneurial drive on which the business was founded through every transition and generation. Sharing knowledge, lifting others: sharing experience and expertise with the wider family business community and mentoring the next wave of family entrepreneurs. Open to Every Family Business, Everywhere The Pledge is deliberately open and inclusive. There is no size threshold, no sector restriction and no accreditation process. Any family business that genuinely subscribes to these principles is invited to sign, free of charge. Every signatory receives a complimentary personalised Certificate of Commitment and a digital badge from Family Business United, together with a campaign pack which gives them everything they need to share their commitment publicly, including a customisable press release, social media banners, a website news story template and other collateral. As Paul adds, “We want this Pledge to become a movement. We want family businesses in every town, every sector and every country to be able to point to it and say: we signed this because it reflects who we are." "The more businesses that join us, the louder and clearer that message becomes for the whole world to hear.” A Community United by Shared Values The launch of the Family Business Pledge marks a new chapter in Family Business United’s mission to champion, support and connect family businesses at every stage of their journey. It is the culmination of years of listening to family firms talk about what makes them different, what they stand for and what they want the world to understand about the way they do business. Family Business United will use its platform, network, events and media reach to promote signatories, share their stories and build a growing community of businesses that are proud to be family firms and proud to show it. As Paul concludes: “Signing the Pledge is not about ticking a box. It is about making a statement. It is about saying to your customers, your team, your community and the next generation of your family: these values are not just words on a wall. They are the way we run our business every single day.”

There is a question that sits at the heart of every family business succession, usually unasked and often unexamined: is joining the family firm a gift, or is it a weight? For the generation that built or grew the business, the answer feels obvious. Of course it is a privilege. Of course the next generation should want to be part of it. And yet, for many of the young men and women sitting across from that assumption, the experience is considerably more complicated. This is not a criticism of either side. It is simply the reality of what happens when love, expectation, and commercial enterprise share the same space. The Weight Of What Came Before Walking into a business that bears your family's name, where the receptionist knew you as a child, where the boardroom portraits include your grandparents, is an experience unlike any other start to a career. The history is everywhere. So is the expectation. So, often, is the comparison. Next-generation family members frequently describe a particular kind of pressure that their peers in other careers simply do not encounter: the sense that they are representing not just themselves, but everyone who came before them. Every mistake carries extra weight. Every success is questioned — was it really theirs, or did the family name do the work? And the question of whether they would have chosen this path freely, without the family dimension, is one they may never feel fully entitled to ask. None of this makes the family business a bad place to build a career. For many, it is the most meaningful thing they have ever done. But it does mean that the transition needs to be handled with considerably more care than the older generation sometimes realises. Giving The Next Generation Room To Arrive The families that manage succession most successfully tend to share a common approach: they give the next generation genuine room to make the role their own. They do not simply install the incoming leader in the existing seat with the expectation that everything will continue as before. They create space for new ideas, for different ways of leading, for the fresh perspective that someone who has grown up watching the business from the outside, and perhaps worked elsewhere first, genuinely brings. This is harder than it sounds. It requires the outgoing generation to resist the very natural impulse to protect what they have built by controlling how it develops. It requires trust — not just in the individual, but in the process of renewal itself. The firms that have not found that trust are disproportionately represented in the statistics about businesses that fail to make it past the third generation. When Joining Is The Wrong Decision There is another conversation that family businesses rarely have openly, but probably should: the one about what happens when the next generation does not actually want to join, or should not. Not every family member has the skills, the temperament, or the genuine desire to run a business. Bringing someone in out of obligation, or allowing them to join because the family expects it, rarely ends well — for the individual, for the business, or for the family relationships that depend on both. The most forward-thinking family businesses have found ways to make this conversation safe to have. They separate, clearly and kindly, the question of family membership from the question of business involvement. Being part of the family is unconditional. Having a role in the business is something different — it requires the right fit, the right preparation, and, above all, a genuine choice. Legacy As Invitation, Not Obligation The families that get this right tend to think of legacy not as something imposed on the next generation, but as something offered to them. Here is what we have built. Here is what it stands for. Here is what it could become. Do you want to be part of that? When the next generation joins because they genuinely want to, because they see something worth building on and feel free to make it their own, the energy they bring is transformative. When they join because they felt they had no choice, the cost is eventually paid by everyone. The distinction matters more than almost anything else in the long-term health of a family business.

There is a particular kind of meeting that most family business leaders will recognise, even if they have never sat in a boardroom to have it. It is the meeting where a business decision and a family dynamic arrive at the same table at the same time, and nobody is quite sure which one is driving the conversation. Should the founder's eldest child take the managing director role, or is there a stronger external candidate? Should the business carry a family member whose performance has been a source of quiet concern for longer than anyone wants to admit? Should a significant investment be made that one branch of the family supports and another does not? These are not straightforward business questions. They are business questions wrapped around family relationships, personal histories, and emotional stakes that no financial model can fully capture. And they are, for many family businesses, among the most difficult decisions they will ever face. A well-constituted board does not make these decisions easier in the sense of making them less weighty. What it does is create the conditions in which they can be made well, with rigour, with fairness, and with a degree of separation between the family dynamics and the business logic that is almost impossible to achieve without some form of independent structure. The Limits Of Family Consensus Family businesses are often rightly proud of their ability to make decisions quickly and collaboratively. The absence of corporate bureaucracy, the alignment of ownership and management, the shared values that mean everyone is broadly pulling in the same direction and these are genuine advantages, and they should not be designed away in the name of governance for its own sake. But family consensus has limits, and those limits tend to become most apparent precisely when the decisions are most consequential. When everyone around the table has a personal stake in the outcome, financial, emotional, or relational, the quality of the decision-making process is vulnerable in ways that are not always obvious from the inside. Uncomfortable truths go unsaid. Difficult options are not fully explored. The desire to preserve harmony, or to avoid reopening old wounds, quietly shapes the conclusions before the conversation has properly begun. This is not a failure of character or intent. It is simply the nature of family dynamics. The same closeness that makes family businesses distinctive also makes genuine objectivity, in certain situations, genuinely hard to achieve. Acknowledging this is not a criticism of the family. It is an honest assessment of the conditions in which good decisions are hardest to make and a recognition that those conditions call for a different kind of support. What A Board Actually Brings The word governance makes some family business leaders reach for the off switch. It conjures images of corporate formality, of tick-box compliance exercises, of adding cost and complexity to a business that has always prided itself on being lean and direct. This reaction is understandable, but it tends to conflate governance with bureaucracy and the two are not the same thing. A board, at its best, is not an administrative burden. It is a decision-making asset. It brings perspectives that the family, however capable, cannot generate from within, experience of different industries and business models, exposure to challenges that the family has not yet encountered, the kind of detached objectivity that only comes from not having grown up in the business or around the table at family dinners. Independent non-executive directors, in particular, can offer something that is genuinely rare in a family business context: the freedom to say what needs to be said without fear of damaging a relationship that predates the company itself. This is not about undermining family authority or importing a corporate culture that is at odds with the family's values. A well-structured family business board works in service of the family's vision, not in opposition to it. Its role is to strengthen the decision-making process, not to replace the family's judgement with someone else's. The best independent directors understand this distinction instinctively, and they bring their challenge and their counsel in ways that build trust rather than create friction. The Specific Value Of Independent Voices In the context of the decisions where family and business most acutely collide, independent board members earn their place many times over. Consider the question of a family member's performance. This is one of the most reliably difficult conversations in any family business, one that, left unaddressed, can damage both the business and the family relationship far more than an honest, well-handled conversation ever would. An independent board member can raise the issue in a way that separates it from personal criticism, frame it in terms of the business's needs and standards rather than individual failing, and support both the family and the individual through a process that might otherwise become entrenched and destructive. Consider succession. The question of who should lead the business into its next chapter is one of the most consequential a family will ever face, and it is one where the risk of the decision being shaped by family dynamics rather than business logic is highest. A board with independent members can ensure that the process is rigorous, that all candidates, family and non-family, are assessed against the same criteria, that the decision is made on the basis of what the business needs rather than what any individual branch of the family prefers, and that the outcome has a legitimacy that the wider organisation can get behind. Consider also the moments of acute family tension — a dispute between siblings, a disagreement between generations about the direction of the business, a breakdown in communication that is beginning to affect the organisation beyond the family itself. An independent board does not resolve these issues directly, but it provides a structure within which they can be addressed with the seriousness and objectivity they require, and a framework of accountability that keeps the business functioning while the family works through what needs to be worked through. Building A Board That Works For Your Business Not every family business needs a full formal board with multiple independent directors, audit committees, and quarterly reporting cycles. The right governance structure is one that is proportionate to the scale and complexity of the business, and that genuinely serves the family's needs rather than simply satisfying an external expectation of what good governance should look like. For many family businesses, the most valuable starting point is a single trusted independent adviser, someone with relevant experience, genuine credibility, and the interpersonal skills to build relationships across the family while maintaining the objectivity that makes their input valuable. This might be a non-executive chair, a formal non-executive director, or an advisory board member whose role is less formally constituted but no less genuinely useful. What matters more than the structure is the quality of the people involved and the seriousness with which the family engages with the process. An independent director who is treated as a rubber stamp, who is given incomplete information, or whose challenge is consistently deflected, adds nothing. One who is genuinely brought into the confidence of the business, trusted with the difficult questions, and empowered to say what needs to be said, that person can be transformative. The Family Business That Governs Well, Endures The families who invest in governance, who build boards that bring genuine independence and challenge, who create structures that can hold the weight of difficult decisions, are not doing so because they distrust each other or because they have run out of their own ideas. They are doing so because they understand something important: that the decisions which matter most to the long-term health of the business are precisely the ones that are hardest to make well from within the family alone. A board does not replace the family's authority or dilute its ownership. It strengthens both by ensuring that the decisions made in the family's name are made with the rigour, the fairness, and the independence that the business deserves, and that the next generation inherits not just a business but a decision-making culture worthy of building on. When family and business collide, and they will, having the right structure around the table is not a luxury. It is one of the most valuable investments a family business can make.