Family Business United is delighted to announce the launch of the Family Business Apprentice Employers Report 2026, the UK's only annual report dedicated to understanding the role that family businesses play in employing and developing apprentices. As the backbone of the UK economy, family firms have a long-standing reputation for investing in people, developing talent and creating opportunities across generations. Apprenticeships remain a vital part of that commitment, helping businesses address skills shortages while providing rewarding career pathways for people of all ages. To build the most comprehensive picture possible, Family Business United is inviting family-owned businesses from across the UK to submit information on the number of apprentices they employed as at 30 June 2026. The report, now an established annual benchmark, celebrates the contribution family firms make to apprenticeship employment and highlights examples of best practice from businesses of every size and sector. Why Take Part? By contributing your data, your business will help: Showcase the significant contribution family businesses make to apprenticeship employment across the UK. Demonstrate the sector's commitment to developing future talent. Inform policymakers, educators and business leaders about the impact of family firms on skills development. Highlight inspiring stories of apprentices succeeding within family businesses. Create valuable benchmarking data for the family business community. Participation is free, and individual business data will only be used in accordance with the reporting methodology. What Information is Required? We are asking family businesses to provide: Company name Industry sector Number of UK employees Number of apprentices employed as at 30 June 2026 Number of new apprentices during the year and the number completing their apprenticeship this year Optional case studies or apprentice success stories Building a Stronger Picture Together Family businesses have always understood the importance of investing in future generations. Whether employing one apprentice or hundreds, every contribution helps create a clearer picture of the enormous impact family firms have on skills, employment and local communities. The findings from the Family Business Apprentice Employers Report 2026 will be published later this year and will provide valuable insight into apprenticeship employment across the UK's family business sector. Submit Your Data Family businesses wishing to be included are encouraged to submit their information as soon as possible with data as of June 30 using the form below. Together, we can celebrate the family firms investing in tomorrow's workforce and demonstrate the vital role family businesses continue to play in developing skills across the UK.

Twenty-five years ago, in Singapore, I bought a Gucci canvas cross-body bag with money saved from overtime. It was a modest indulgence, earned through hard work, from a brand I knew was considered good. That bag has travelled to work and on holidays, and remains a favourite to this day, mainly for it’s appropriate size. Then came Sara Gay Forden's The House of Gucci, and the bag in my cupboard quietly changed its meaning. All at once it felt invaluable, a small piece of a history far larger and far sadder than one could have imagined. The history of Gucci is a tragedy of a very particular kind, the kind that should make every business family stop and think. On the morning of 27 March 1995, a well-dressed man climbed the steps of a building on Via Palestro in Milan and was shot three times in the back and once in the head. He was Maurizio Gucci, forty-six years old, the last of his family to lead the house that carried his name. The man who fired the gun had been hired for the job. The woman who arranged it, as the courts would later establish, was Patrizia Reggiani, Maurizio's former wife and the mother of his two daughters. She had once been the fiercest champion of his rise. In 1998 she was convicted and sentenced to twenty-nine years. The Italian press called her the “Black Widow”. And yet the murder is not what lingers once the book is closed. What lingers is something quieter and far heavier. The brand survives today. It thrives. It is worth billions. Only, the family that created it doesn’t own it. Three generations built the house, and the third generation lost it. By the time the assassin arrived on Via Palestro, the company had already slipped out of Gucci hands. Forden tells the story of one family. The lessons belong to every family that owns a business. There is an old saying that every business family secretly dreads, shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations. The Gucci saga is perhaps the most beautifully dressed proof that the saying is real. It is a pattern that repeats across families, across centuries, across continents. A pattern, unlike a curse, can be understood and broken, if only we are willing to study how it forms. Why Most Dynasties Fade By The Third Generation Research across the world shows that only about a third of family businesses make it into the second generation, and barely one in ten survives into the third. Those numbers frighten every founder who reads them. They are not, however, handed down by fate. Family firms seldom die because the world has stopped wanting what they make. Customers were still queuing outside Gucci's Fifth Avenue stores even while the family was tearing itself apart in the courts. One observer noticed something telling, that the more sensational the headlines grew, the more shoppers walked in to buy. Family firms often die or family loses control of the firm because the family loses the ability to own itself and to govern itself. John Ward, who did as much as anyone to build the modern study of family business, argued that the long life of a family firm is a matter of discipline. Families that endure plan their succession early, while there is still time to do it gracefully. They keep the roles of family, owner and manager from blurring into one. They put their governance in place during the years of calm, long before any storm arrives. Forden's book is, in effect, a long record of what happens when a gifted family does none of this. Read as a warning, it becomes one of the finest masterclasses imaginable in how to destroy a dynasty. So let us turn it the other way around, and read each act of ruin as a lesson in how to keep one alive. First, The Rise, Because Every Fall Begins With A Gift Guccio Gucci opened his house in Florence in 1921, a small leather-goods shop on a quiet street. The origin story has since become legend. As a young man he had worked as a porter and lift-boy at the Savoy Hotel in London, where he watched the monogrammed luggage of the wealthy pass through the lobby and resolved to make something just as fine for his own countrymen. He did exactly that. His craftsmanship in saddlery and luggage became the family's first and finest inheritance. In time he brought his sons into the firm, and after the war he divided the company among three of them, Aldo, Vasco and Rodolfo. Here was familiness in its purest form, that special bundle of strengths a family brings to its firm when shared identity, trust and complementary talent come together into something no outsider can copy. Aldo was the engine. A marketing genius, he carried Gucci across the Atlantic and built a glittering empire that reached across America, Europe and Asia. He understood, better than anyone else in the family, that people did not buy a Gucci bag for the leather. They bought it for the feeling of carrying it. He pushed the family into perfume and into watches over his brothers' objections. And he gave them the image that should have become their constitution. “My family is the train”, he liked to say. “I am the engine. Without the train the engine is nothing, and without the engine the train does not move.” It is a lovely picture of how much they needed one another. The sorrow of the story is that the train forgot that it needed an engine. Lesson One: The Trap Of Dividing Ownership Equally When Vasco died of cancer in 1974, leaving no children, Aldo and Rodolfo bought out his widow's stake and emerged as equal partners, fifty per cent each. On paper it looked like elegant symmetry. In practice it laid down a fault line that ran through everything that followed. The two halves were identical in size. Behind them lay contributions that were perceived very differently. Aldo had built the American business and much of the global one. Rodolfo, a former actor, had put in far less according to Aldo’s family, and he held precisely the same half. Aldo felt the imbalance keenly. Quietly, he began to steer profits into the perfume company, where he and his sons held the larger share, so that Rodolfo saw only a thin slice of the returns. Resentment crept in from every side. Rodolfo blamed Aldo's restless expansion for the thin profits. Aldo's sons seethed that their uncle drew an equal half from an empire their father had built. Everyone felt cheated. No one felt heard. This is one of the oldest traps in family business, and one of the most misread. Equal and fair are two very different things. When a passive owner holds the same stake as the one who creates the value, the paperwork may call it just while every family dinner says otherwise. Scholars of socioemotional wealth remind us that families guard much more than money. They guard their pride, and their sense of having mattered. Wound that, and no dividend will ever heal it. The Guccis never built any way to revisit who owned what, and why. In Forden's telling, that frozen fifty-fifty shaped all that came after. Lesson Two: A Next Generation With Ro Real Role Will Create A Destructive One Few figures in the saga are as moving as Paolo Gucci. He was talented and restless, and by every account he was treated abominably. Working under his father Aldo, who was authoritarian and certain of his own genius, Paolo was handed a title and given no authority. “I was not allowed to do anything”, he complained. When he tried to start a line under his own name, the family that had stifled him closed ranks against him as one body. Aldo, who quarrelled endlessly with Rodolfo, instantly joined hands with him to crush the boy. What does a cornered son do? Paolo handed evidence of his father's tax evasion to the American authorities. Aldo, the architect of the entire empire, was convicted and sent to prison. A son put his own father behind bars. Read that line again, slowly, and let its full weight settle on you. It is hard not to feel a flash of anger at Paolo, and just as hard to hold on to it. Who had made him this way? A family that gave him a famous surname and no room to be himself, a family that treated his hunger for dignity as an act of betrayal. The lesson is plain and unforgiving. The next generation will find a role in the business one way or another. The only choice a family really has is whether to give that role to them openly, or to force them to seize it in anger. Talent that is denied an honest outlet does not simply disappear. It festers, and then it turns. Lesson Three: Keep The Family, The Owners And The Managers In Clear View Many years ago, Renato Tagiuri and John Davis gave us the three-circle model, a simple and powerful way of seeing a family business as three overlapping groups, the family, the owners and the managers. One person may sit inside all three circles at once. The circles still remain distinct, and a family gets into trouble the moment it forgets which is which. The House of Gucci shows what happens when the circles fold into one another and no one can tell them apart any more. Think of Patrizia Reggiani, long before she plotted a murder. In the early years she was genuinely good for Maurizio. She gave a timid young man the courage to stand up to a domineering father. “I knew he was weak”, she said, “but I was not weak. I pushed him so hard that he became president of Gucci.” Over time, though, her ambition found no proper home, and so it spilled into interference. She held no formal position in the company, yet she tried to run it through her husband, feeding his grievances against his uncle and his cousins, and measuring respect by who was offered champagne first at a party. Her appetite was unmistakable. She once said that she would rather “weep in a Rolls-Royce than be happy on a bicycle.” Most business families wrestle with similar questions. What is the rightful place of the son-in-law, the daughter-in-law, the person who marries into the family and the firm? Shutting them out is rarely the healthy answer. What works is clarity, with them and with everyone, about where ownership ends and management begins, and about how a marriage relates to both. A family that leaves these lines undrawn ends up negotiating its most intimate relationships through resentment. And resentment, as Gucci shows us, can turn deadly. Lesson Four: Why Control Without Grooming Is A Trap Rodolfo loved his only son, and he failed him in the most ordinary way a loving father can. He never let him grow up. As one of Maurizio's associates put it, “Rodolfo gave him the castle and not the money to maintain it.” Rodolfo held on to every decision, trusted his son with almost nothing, and prepared no one to follow him. On his deathbed he confided his fear that money and power would change his boy. They did, for the simple reason that the boy had never been allowed to practise being a man. So, when Maurizio finally took control, he held the largest single block of shares in the company and very little experience of running it. His vision was brilliant. He dreamed of a global luxury house with professional management, modern design and sophisticated marketing, which is more or less the company that non-family professionals would later build on the ruins he left behind. A vision, though, has to be carried out, and owning a company teaches a person nothing about running one. Maurizio managed, in the unsparing words of his own advisers, “by intuition”. He was charming and mercurial, a child in a sweet shop who wanted everything at once and understood almost nothing about cash flow. Within a few years a company that had been earning sixty million dollars was losing sixty million. “Intuition”, one adviser observed, “will carry you while business is good and will desert you the moment business turns bad.” Here is the lesson every owning family should write upon its heart. Ownership is something a family passes down to its children. The skill to run a great company is something each generation has to build for itself, or buy in honestly from people who already have it. To know what you are good at, and to bring in fine professionals for everything else, is one of the highest forms of stewardship a family can practise. Maurizio came to it too late, and he came to it on borrowed money. Lesson Five: Build The Rules Of The Family Before The Quarrels Begin Through the 1980s, Gucci became famous for its lawsuits rather than its loafers. There were criminal complaints over forged signatures, with civil suits piled on top of them. An eighty-year-old patriarch had his office boxed up and emptied overnight. Brother was set against brother, and cousin against cousin. In all of this there was no family constitution, no family council, no shareholders' agreement worth the name, and, most damaging of all, no neutral person to whom a dispute could be carried before it reached a courtroom. It is hard not to compare this with the Cartiers, whose story has appeared in these pages before. As far back as 1906, old Alfred Cartier wrote a dispute-resolution clause into the firm's founding documents. If his sons ever fell out, the matter would go to a named arbiter. The Cartiers kept a family council at a time when most families kept only their quarrels. They were not spared every grief. They were spared the spectacle of destroying one another in public. The Guccis had built no such structure, and so every disagreement had only two places to go, into silence or into court. Families reach for litigation when they have built nothing better to reach for. A constitution, a family council, a forum where grievances can be aired and settled inside the family, the habit of mediation in place of a lawsuit, these are the load-bearing walls of a dynasty. They have to be raised in the sunshine, because no one can raise them in the middle of a storm. The Reckoning, And A Bitter Irony The end arrived quietly, in a lawyer's office, with the stroke of a pen. Worn down by the family wars, Maurizio first joined hands with the Bahrain-based investment house Investcorp to buy out his relatives. It was the first time an outsider had ever held a meaningful block of the family's shares. Then, drowning in losses he could not manage, he sold his own remaining half. On 23 September 1993, in the offices of a Swiss bank in Lugano, surrounded by lawyers and financiers, Maurizio Gucci signed away the last of the family's stake. After more than seventy years, not one Gucci owned any part of Gucci. Eighteen months later he was dead. Here lies the cruellest irony of the whole story. Once the feuding owners were gone, the professionals turned a near-bankrupt company, within a decade, into one of the most valuable luxury brands on earth, its sales climbing from a few hundred million dollars into the billions. Everything Maurizio had dreamed of came true. The global house, the professional management, the modern marketing, all of it arrived. It simply arrived for strangers, while the family watched from outside the gates. The craftsmanship of the first generation, the genius of the second and the dream of the third all lived on. The family that had carried them was simply no longer there. That is the true shape of shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves. The wealth does not always vanish into thin air. Sometimes it just moves quietly out of the hands of the family that built it. What The Bag Came To Mean Let me come back to that Gucci bag, bought in Singapore a quarter of a century ago with overtime money. For twenty-five years it was simply a beautiful thing, hard-earned and much loved. Since reading Forden's book, I cannot pick it up without thinking of the family whose name it carries. The bag has outlasted the family's ownership of the very company that made it. There is something almost unbearably poignant in that. A canvas cross-body bag, in a cupboard in India, has held on to its Gucci for longer, in a sense, than the Guccis themselves did. Strip away the murder, the courtrooms and the couture, and the book leaves a business family with a handful of quiet instructions. Divide ownership in a way that feels fair to those who build the value, and be willing to revisit it as contributions change over the years. Give your children a genuine role in good time, before their talent curdles into resentment. Keep the family, the owners and the managers in clear view, and decide with open eyes where the people who marry in will stand. Earn the right to manage the business, or hand that task to those who have earned it. And raise your governance, your council and your means of settling disputes while the days are still calm, because none of it can be raised once the quarrels begin. Guccio Gucci began with a craftsman's pride and a porter's eye for beauty. His grandsons inherited the genius and never learnt the grace of sharing it. The bags still sell. The name still shines. The family is simply no longer in the room where the decisions are made. Every dynasty would do well to keep that warning close. A great family business is rarely destroyed in a single dramatic moment. It is undone slowly, across ordinary years, each time a family allows pride to win over governance. The House of Gucci shows us where that road ends. The ending of our own story is still ours to write. Dr. Nupur Pavan Bang is Founder & Chief Family Business Navigator at Bodhi Advisory & Nurturing Group. She writes and advises on family enterprise, governance and succession. She can be reached at npbang@gmail.com. Views are personal.

Last week, HMRC announced a significant update to its plans for the mandatory payrolling of Benefits in Kind, introducing a phased implementation from April 2027. Under previous proposals, employers were expected to payroll almost all Benefits in Kind from April 2027 (with limited exceptions such as accommodation and beneficial loans). However, following delays in publishing detailed technical guidance, HMRC has now confirmed a more gradual rollout. From 6 April 2027, mandatory payrolling will apply only to: Company cars and car fuel Vans and van fuel Private medical benefits (including dental) All other benefits in kind will continue to be reported via P11D or voluntary payrolling until later phases are introduced. HMRC has indicated that the remaining benefits are expected to be brought into mandatory payrolling from April 2028, with further details and timelines to be confirmed in due course. This change reflects the practical challenges employers, payroll providers, and software developers face in moving to real-time reporting, and is intended to allow more time for systems and processes to be updated. What this means for employers While the immediate scope of the changes has been reduced, this remains a fundamental shift in how benefits are reported and taxed. Employers should continue preparing for real-time reporting through payroll, with an initial focus on the benefits included in the first phase. Key actions include: Reviewing current benefit offerings and identifying those in scope for April 2027 Assessing whether payroll systems can support real-time reporting requirements Engaging with payroll providers and software developers to plan implementation Communicating upcoming changes to employees and stakeholders Further technical guidance from HMRC is expected over the coming months. How we can help Our employment tax and payroll specialists can support you in understanding the impact of these changes and preparing for the transition. If you would like to discuss how these developments affect your organisation, please get in touch with your usual contact at James Cowper Kreston or a member of our employment tax team here.

The Nottingham Concert Band certainly struck a chord with the Wilkins Group after the global packaging giant handed over a £1,000 cheque to fund the purchase of new instruments and music. The West Bridgford based independent community band, under the direction of Music Director and Conductor Robert Parker since 1993, travels around the county delivering a diverse range of musical style to audiences through formal evening concerts, Christmas specials, summer season outdoor engagements, community fundraisers and private functions. The Wilkins Group donation forms part of the company’s year-long commitment to supporting local charities. It has provided a significant boost to the charity’s funds. Rosemary Attard, a trustee for the organisation, said: “We usually have to rely on subs and ticket sales to fund the band. Only occasionally do we get a donation, so we are immensely grateful for the Wilkins Group’s contribution.” Over 70 musicians from across the East Midlands come together to create the distinctive sound of the wind band. A much-loved part of the county’s music scene, the inclusive group ranges in age from 18 to 80-plus. Aron Wilkins, joint managing director of the Wilkins Group, said: "The Nottingham Concert Band is such a worthwhile organisation. We just love how they bring people of all ages together and give them a platform to develop their potential and shine!" “The music charity has been making a real difference in Nottinghamshire, not only by giving local musicians a chance and a place to explore their talents, but also by sharing the enjoyment of live music with the community." “As a local organisation, their passion and dedication in bringing people together through a shared love of music has made them the perfect choice for our charity initiative.” Nottingham Concert Band holds its rehearsals at Rushcliffe Spencer Academy in Boundary Road in West Bridgford each Tuesday evening. It will next perform at Proms in the Park at Bridgford Park in West Bridgford for Armed Forces Day on Saturday, June 27. As a family run firm, The Wilkins Group is dedicated to supporting its local community and adapting its manufacturing practices to reduce and ultimately eradicate single-use plastics within the industry. As well as producing food packaging for the likes of Pukka, Pizza Express, Harrods and Cadbury, the business is leading the way in alternatives such as board trays for food packaging, including the use of compostable materials, and award winning 100 per cent plastic-free hangers. For more information on The Wilkins Group visit here.

HMG Paints, the UK’s leading independent paint manufacturer, is proud to announce its participation in the international ‘Cool Roofs. Smarter Choice.’ campaign. This initiative, launched in collaboration with the Nova Paint Club in Vancouver in May, aims to accelerate the adoption of solar-reflective coatings to combat rising urban temperatures, improve building comfort, and reduce energy consumption across the UK and around the globe. While the campaign marks a new global push, HMG Paints brings a wealth of expertise to the table. The company has a storied history in solar-reflective technology, having supplied its Retroflect coatings since 1974 through its long-standing partnership with W.H. Screetons, which is now a proud part of the HMG Paints Group. A Smart Solution for Modern Challenges Cool roof coatings reflect a high percentage of sunlight and minimise heat absorption. Due to their high reflectance and thermal emissivity, these solutions keep roof surfaces significantly cooler, reducing interior building temperatures and lowering the demand for air conditioning. Dr Aditi Bunker, an epidemiologist at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, who has been doing global studies on cool roofs and health said: “Extreme heat is a significant health risk in our cities. As temperatures continue to rise, adapting to heat is becoming a public health priority. Cool roofs are an example of an evidence-based solution that can reduce indoor heat exposure, thus improving health, wellbeing and comfort of people exposed to extreme heat.” Cool roofs have been shown to lower internal temperatures by 2-5°C, making it more comfortable for students to learn, workers to be more productive, and for people to sleep better at night. They also lessen the thermal stress on roofing materials and improve the efficiency of solar panels. They offer an accessible cooling solution for low-income communities, who are disproportionately exposed to severe overheating and cannot afford air conditioning. HMG is currently working closely with its Nova Paint Club partners to ensure this proven technology is more accessible than ever to the UK market. By sharing knowledge and best practices with independent manufacturers globally, HMG is reinforcing the role of coatings as a vital tool for an eco-efficient future. Jonathan Falder, Sales Director for HMG Paints, said: "At HMG, we believe innovation should have a real-world impact. By supporting this global campaign, we are highlighting ‘cool roofs’ as a simple, low-cost, yet high-impact solution to the climate challenges affecting our cities, towns and villages. Whether it’s a commercial warehouse or a residential rooftop, a simple coat of solar-reflective paint can improve comfort and contribute to a more sustainable environment." Key Benefits of Cool Roof Technology The technology featured in the Retroflect range and supported by the Nova Paint Club offers immediate advantages for building performance and sustainability: Greater Energy Efficiency: Average reduction of 2 to 5°C in indoor temperatures, potentially reducing cooling energy consumption by up to 15%. Asset Longevity: Lower surface temperatures reduce thermal stress on roofing structures, extending their useful life and optimising the performance of solar panels. Professional Value: Architects, engineers, and facilities managers can offer clients a cost-effective solution to improve a building's EPC rating and sustainability profile. Combating Urban Heat: By reducing the "Urban Heat Island" effect, these coatings help lower the average temperature of densely built-up areas. Environmental Protection: Lower energy consumption leads to fewer greenhouse gas emissions, helping to mitigate global warming. “For building professionals, cool roofs are not only climate-smart but business-smart,” says Paolo Giaccone, Secretary General of Nova, whose members are spread out in Europe, Asia and the Americas. “As temperatures get higher, keeping heat out will be fundamental to building design. Cool roofs are a simple way to build in heat resiliency and future proof buildings that will need more cooling without using energy.” “They lower operating costs for clients, extend roof life and can help get ahead of future building regulations to address extreme heat,” he adds. “Whether it’s retrofitting a school or designing a new residential complex, cool roofs deliver immediate and long-term value.” Founded in 1983, the Nova Paint Club is an international alliance of leading independent paint and coatings manufacturers and is spearheading the ‘Cool Roofs. Smarter Choice.’ campaign. The group facilitates the global exchange of technology, research, and sustainability initiatives, allowing members like HMG Paints to remain at the forefront of industry innovation and drive innovations such as Cool Roof technology. For more information on HMG Paints or to discuss your own Cool Roof initiative please visit here.

The government has recently confirmed a number of significant changes to Companies House filing requirements which are expected to take effect from April 2028. These changes are aimed at improving transparency and reducing economic crime and will affect small companies. Profit and loss accounts will need to be filed Currently, many small companies can file accounts at Companies House without submitting a profit and loss account. From April 2028, small and micro companies will be required to file a profit and loss account with Companies House as part of their annual accounts filing. Following consultation with businesses and advisers, the government has confirmed that companies will be able to opt out of having the profit and loss account published on the public register. This means that while the information must be filed with Companies House, it will not be available for public inspection. The information will, however, be available to relevant government authorities where required. Accounts must be filed using approved software Companies House will move to a fully digital filing system. From April 2028, companies will no longer be able to file accounts using Companies House's existing web-based accounts filing service. Instead, accounts must be filed using approved commercial software. Many businesses already use accounting or accounts production software and may see little practical impact. However, directors who currently prepare and file accounts directly through Companies House will need to ensure they have suitable software in place before the changes take effect. Restrictions on changing your accounting year end The government has announced plans to restrict the ability of companies to repeatedly shorten their accounting reference period (year end). Under the current rules, companies can generally shorten their accounting period as often as required. This flexibility has sometimes been used to alter filing dates or reporting periods. The new rules will limit the number of times a company can shorten its accounting reference date. Detailed guidance has not yet been published, so it is not currently known exactly how frequently changes will be permitted or what exceptions may apply. What should company directors do now? There is no immediate action required, as these changes are not expected to take effect until April 2028. However, directors should be aware that: Profit and loss accounts will need to be filed with Companies House. Companies will be able to opt out of public disclosure of those profit and loss accounts. Accounts filing will need to be completed through approved software. Future changes to accounting year ends are likely to be more restricted than under the current rules. We will provide further updates as additional guidance is released by Companies House. If you would like to discuss how we can help your business, please speak to your usual James Cowper Kreston contact, or get in touch with our team here to find out how we can help you maximise your potential.

Cyberattacks are becoming an increasingly significant threat to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), yet insurance adoption remains disproportionately low. Limited awareness of cyber risks, affordability challenges, and evolving threat landscapes continue to leave many SMEs financially exposed. As cyber incidents grow in severity and sophistication, closing the protection gap has become a pressing priority for insurers, says GlobalData, a leading intelligence and productivity platform. According to GlobalData’s 2025 SME Survey, 34.7% of global SMEs had experienced a cyber incident in the past three years. In Europe, German SMEs are the most vulnerable to cyberattacks, with this figure rising to 40.3%. Yet cyber insurance is often viewed as an unnecessary product, with just 16.8% of global SMEs stating they have a standalone policy in place. While some SMEs may be protected against cyber risks as part of another insurance policy, low penetration rates are alarming, signalling that most SMEs could be underinsured. Beatriz Benito, Lead Insurance Analyst, GlobalData, comments: “Low cyber insurance rates among SMEs suggest that many smaller businesses are still overlooking cover—possibly because they do not understand the value of such policies.” Smaller businesses are less likely to have the same level of technical defence as larger enterprises, making them more vulnerable. Benito concludes: “Hackers will naturally view SMEs as easier targets. A sizable cyberattack will have a massive financial impact on a large corporation, but on a smaller, less resilient business, an unexpected cash drain can cause immediate insolvency if they are not protected by an adequate cyber insurance policy." “Cyber insurance is characterized by high premium base lines to ensure profit margins, as providers grapple with ever-evolving risks and limited data. As a result, many smaller businesses have been priced out, unable to afford cyber cover." "To bridge this gap, insurers must make cover accessible for small businesses through continuous risk monitoring and promoting good digital practices.”

In a clear signal that UK manufacturers are losing ground to global competitors, the Food and Drink Federation’s (FDF) latest Trade Snapshot report displays worrying signs of a downturn in the UK’s food and drink exports. In Q1 2026, food and drink exports fell by 4.8%, to £5.7bn. In volume terms, exports saw a 8.9% decline year-on-year, at 2.0bn kg. This is the lowest Q1 export volume seen in the past decade, excluding at the height of the pandemic1, and the third lowest since 2000. Meanwhile, imports of food and drink to the UK gained ground, growing by 2.6% in the beginning of 2026 to £16.3bn, widening the gap between the UK’s food and drink exports and imports. Non-EU Exports Slump, As US Tariffs Bite Export decline was driven primarily by a drop in exports beyond the EU, which fell over a tenth (11.5%) compared to Q1 2025. Notably, UK exports to the US fell by over a quarter (27.9%) in value terms, showing the impact of the additional tariffs imposed by the US in April 2025. At the same time, US food and drink manufacturers are strengthening their position in the UK market, with imports to the UK increasing over a tenth (11.5%) to £419.5m. This means the UK’s food and drink export surplus with the US has fallen 69.3%, from £359m to £110m in Q1 2026 – its lowest level since Brexit. The US are also set to benefit from proposed tariff suspensions announced by the UK government this year, which would make it cheaper for US businesses to export products like chocolate, biscuits, jams and spreads to the UK, while UK manufacturers face higher costs sending products to the US, meaning this trend is likely to persist. Exports were also down to markets where the UK has recently signed trade deals. For example, food and drink exports to Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership members (CPTPP) fell 11.3%, while exports to India were also down 16.6% in volume terms, showing the importance of manufacturers being supported to reap the benefits of these deals. The Cost Of Importing Ingredients Rises The FDF Trade Snapshot shows that non-EU imports grew by 4.2% in Q1 2026 in value terms compared to 2025, while EU imports grew 1.9%. The report shows that the cost of importing ingredients and raw materials, like plastic packaging, is nearly two fifths (38.6%) higher than it was in January 2020. Alongside rising energy prices, and an ongoing pipeline of regulatory pressure, this is adding persistent pressure to the cost of producing food in the UK. A Storm Is Brewing With food and drink exports falling, imports rising as global competitors gain ground, and the cost of producing food in the UK high, the data suggests British food and drink manufacturers are struggling to keep pace with global competition at home and abroad. A sector that is being squeezed at home cannot seize opportunities globally. This presents a growing threat to the long-term resilience of the sector. FDF is calling for government to take urgent action to protect the nation’s food security and the status of iconic British brands, by creating the right conditions for UK food and drink businesses to remain competitive. Karen Betts, Chief Executive, The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) adds: “Food and drink businesses are part of the fabric of every community in the UK, and it’s concerning to see them struggling to compete overseas. The UK produces world-class food and drink, drawing on our heritage and our reputation for innovation, but we have to be able to remain competitive overseas against local products. The costs of producing food and drink in the UK are higher than in many competitor economies, from energy to employment, and constantly changing regulation only adds to these." “There is plenty government can do to improve the competitiveness of our food and drink exporters, many of which are SMEs, from helping companies to access the benefits of trade deals to lowering the cost of doing business in the UK." “The government’s current proposals to remove tariffs on imported food risk making a bad situation worse. It is very undermining of UK businesses and of the people they employ, and it undermines the UK’s food security in the longer term. Government should suspend tariffs on ingredients rather than manufactured products, to lower the cost of producing food here in the UK and to help businesses keep prices down for consumers.” EU Exports Continue To Fall EU exports also fell in Q1 2026 (6.9% in volume terms, compared to Q1 2025), continuing the downward trend that has been seen since 2019, reflecting the added cost and complexity of trading with our closest trade partner since Brexit. In particular, exports fell in value terms to the UK’s two largest overall export markets – Ireland (-6.3%) and France (-5.8%), compared to Q1 2025. The Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement is set to remove some of this additional trade friction by removing the need for additional checks and certification when trading with the EU. It’s vital that businesses are given as much clarity as possible, and as soon as possible, so that they can reap the benefits of this agreement in the long-term, and begin to revitalise food exports to the EU.

British engineering giant JCB has successfully completed UK testing of its hydrogen-powered JCB Hydromax car – reaching 208mph and clearing the way for its world land speed record attempt at Bonneville next month. The shakedown runs at RAF Wittering in Cambridgeshire, England saw the 32-foot car driven by Wing Commander Andy Green OBE reach 208mph under its own hydrogen power – up from the 177mph recorded earlier in the programme. The testing finished yesterday. Just as valuable as the speed is what the team has gained: vital data, hard-won engineering insight and the teamwork and communication that can only be built on the track. The crew also refined JCB Hydromax’s hydrogen refuelling process – a key element in ensuring fast, efficient operation on the Bonneville Salt Flats, where turnaround times can decide whether a record run goes ahead. All of it will prove invaluable in Utah in August. JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford said: “The UK testing programme has given us everything we had hoped for and more. We have a car that runs, a crew that knows it inside out and a wealth of real-world data that no amount of theory could ever provide. The team has done a magnificent job and our focus now turns entirely to the Salt Flats and a new world hydrogen land speed record.” JCB Engineering Director Ryan Ballard, who is leading the project, said: “Reaching 208mph is a tremendous result, but the real value of these tests is what we have learned. We now understand how the car behaves under load, we have refined our hydrogen refuelling, and we have built the teamwork and communication that will be decisive at Bonneville. Every refuel, run and tyre change we have rehearsed here is one we won’t be doing for the first time on the salt. We will arrive fully prepared, with a car and a crew that know exactly what they are doing.” Andy Green said: “To run JCB Hydromax up to 208mph here in the UK is hugely encouraging. The car feels strong and the team has gelled brilliantly. Now comes the real challenge – Bonneville, the spiritual home of the World Land Speed Record. I can’t wait to get out on the salt.” Unveiled at JCB’s World HQ in Staffordshire on May 12th, the car is powered by two of JCB’s own production-based hydrogen digger engines producing a combined 1,600 bhp. Just six weeks on, with UK testing complete, it will now be prepared for the journey to the United States. Lord Bamford has spearheaded the company’s £100 million investment in hydrogen-powered internal combustion engines, which now power diggers rolling off production lines. At Bonneville in 2006, Andy Green – the fastest man on earth at 763.035 mph and the only person to break the sound barrier on land – drove the JCB Dieselmax car to its Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) diesel world land speed record of 350.092 mph, powered by two JCB engines. That record still stands, and JCB aims to beat it with the lighter, more powerful JCB Hydromax. In Utah, the team will compete at SpeedWeek, run by the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA), before pursuing an officially recognised record under the FIA. The record bid comes ahead of the opening of JCB’s new $500 million factory in San Antonio, Texas. JCB has long pushed the limits of speed: in 2019 the JCB Fastrac became the world’s fastest tractor at 135.191 mph, and in 2014 the JCB GT set the backhoe loader record at 72.58 mph.

More than 900 staff at the UK’s leading organic food retailer have shared a £100,000 bonus - just a few months after it completed the move to an Employee Ownership Trust (EoT). Grape Tree, which is set to open its 200th store in July, has delivered the bonus in recognition of the efforts of team members across England, Wales and Scotland and the important role they have played in the firm achieving a 10% annual rise in sales. Employees who have been with the company for more than three months have benefitted from the decision, a decision made to reinforce the ‘people-centric’ direction the business is travelling in. The move to an EoT was undertaken to provide a clear succession route for the management team and to reward existing staff, as well as supporting talent retention and future recruitment. Nick Shutts, Founder of Grape Tree, commented: “We’ve had a very strong start to life as an Employee Ownership Trust and wanted to give something back to our people, who have really embraced the transition." “It’s a little ‘thank you’ to show them that if the business does well, so do they and we’re hoping that this can become an annual occurrence as we continue to grow and expand to new locations across the UK.” He continued: “Feedback from staff has been great and you can see it translate into efficiency gains secured at our assembly and packaging HQ in Kingswinford and in the way we deal with customers in store." “In turn, it is having a real impact on the bottom line. Our market share in the healthy foods market is growing, sales are increasing across multiple ranges and we’ve got several exciting new store openings set to take place.” Grape Tree has built up a strong following by offering customers value, quality and choice when it comes to health foods and wellbeing products, including its own 100% organic range. Since the EoT, it has opened ten new stores and created over 50 new jobs, taking the total workforce to over 1000. It has also formed a 20-strong employee council from different areas of the business, which will become the main vehicle for generating and implementing new ideas that address challenges and explore new opportunities. Scott Cox, Stock Controller and a member of the Employee Council, said: “It's great to see the company recognising the effort everyone puts in every day. The bonus was very much appreciated and has created a real buzz across the business." “Being employee-owned makes you feel more connected to the company's success, and it's exciting to be part of that journey.” Nick concluded: “It’s really important that we make healthy food and wellness products accessible to everyone and that is what we do every day, across nearly 200 stores." “Being an EoT has given us the platform to bring all of our staff on this exciting journey and secure their buy-in for continuing to deliver our promise of excellent value and the very best customer service.”

Hillhouse Group, one of Scotland's largest independent quarry groups, has announced a significant expansion to its business and footprint with a new asphalt production facility at its Soutra Mains Quarry site in Midlothian. The facility, Edinburgh Asphalt, will bring locally produced, quality-assured asphalt supply to the east of Scotland for the first time under the long-standing Hillhouse name. The plant is currently under construction and due to open in autumn 2026. The new facility is believed to be one of the most significant investments in asphalt production infrastructure in Scotland in recent years, and marks a step forward for the Group as it expands its operational footprint. The Soutra Mains quarry already serves the east of Scotland with aggregates, ready-mix concrete and concrete blocks. Mark Munro, Managing Director, Hillhouse Quarry Group said: "Edinburgh Asphalt represents a significant moment for Hillhouse Group. We have long had the capability, the people and the operational foundation to serve the east of Scotland more fully, and this investment is the natural next step." “For customers across Edinburgh and the surrounding area it means access to locally produced asphalt backed by the quality standards and service commitment that Hillhouse has built its reputation on." The addition of the asphalt offering completes the site as a full-service construction materials operation, capable of meeting the needs of local authorities, infrastructure contractors, surfacing and civil engineering firms, housebuilders and developers across Edinburgh, the Lothians and throughout the rest of Scotland. The announcement builds on a period of significant development for the Group. In January 2026, Hillhouse appointed Alistair Borthwick as Chief Executive Officer, bringing extensive strategic and financial experience from a career in complex, large-scale organisations. Edinburgh Asphalt will be backed by a dedicated operational team with extensive experience in asphalt production, quality assurance and customer service when it launches in autumn 2026. The facility will produce more than 50 asphalt mixes, all manufactured to CPR certification and BS EN 13108 standards, additionally the final products will have the UKCA marking ensuring the product is produced, tested and controlled as set out by industry standard. The plant is designed to serve customers across a broad area of eastern Scotland, with strong access via the A68 corridor supporting efficient collection and delivery logistics. A dedicated fleet will operate from the site from opening. Further information about Edinburgh Asphalt, including the product range, service area and contact details, is available here. About Hillhouse Group With a heritage spanning 120 years, Hillhouse Group is one of Scotland's leading independent quarrying and construction materials businesses. Operating across Scotland, the Group supplies aggregates, asphalt, ready-mix and volumetric concrete, concrete blocks, precast elements and surfacing and civils services through HG Contracts.

Hayman’s has launched a Duty Free exclusive to celebrate Heathrow’s 80th anniversary. Designed for Duty Free customers with gifting in mind, the eye-catching bespoke giftwrap enhances standout on shelf and drives impulse purchase, particularly among international travellers seeking a distinctive London memento. Fraser Brown, Retail Director, Heathrow comments: "We are delighted to partner with London Family Gin Distiller, Hayman’s to develop a special 80th Anniversary Gin to celebrate this occasion. This follows our collaboration with them on our recent Best of British campaign across the airport recognising them as the authentic London gin brand." Hayman’s is the last family of original gin distillers still making gin in London and sold in more than 70 countries around the world. About Hayman’s Made independently since 1863, Hayman’s is the original London gin. More than 160 years later and over 5 generations, Hayman’s has earned a loyal following all over the world. Still family-run and independent, Hayman’s has stayed true to the origins and real character of London gin, made using the same original recipe, over two days, to make every bottle. For Hayman’s, gin is a family tradition. You can taste it in everything they make, from their original recipes for London Dry and Old Tom to newer expressions like Vibrant Citrus and the recently launched Hayman’s London 0%. *Tripadvisor 2025