Latest news

FBUK welcomes Lords report on IHT

January 28, 2026

FBUK Policy Director Matt Jaffa examines a key House of Lords report into inheritance tax reforms and finds that it echoes 15 months of warnings from Family Business UK The House of Lords has published its report into the inheritance tax changes announced in the Autumn Budget 2024 – including changes to BPR and APR. […]

FBUK welcomes U-turn on audit reform

January 22, 2026

The Government has dropped plans to bring forward a Bill on Audit and Corporate Governance Reform. This is both an important and extremely welcome step in a long, drawn out process which began following the collapse of Carillion in 2018. Since then, FBUK has long argued against proposals that would have placed an enormous burden […]

FBUK concern over UK jobs data

January 20, 2026

UK unemployment has remained at 5.1%, a five-year high, according to the latest official data. Figures from the Office for National Statistics shows that unemployment among people aged 16 and over has risen across the UK by 0.3% compared with the previous quarter. London and the East Midlands have seen particularly challenging results. Unemployment in […]

Finance Bill update

January 8, 2026

After the Government announced an increase in the threshold for both BPR and APR for family businesses and farms from £1million to £2.5million, attention shifts back to Parliament and the progress of the Finance Bill. The Bill has now passed the 2nd reading stage and moves to Committee Stage. During this stage, MPs have the […]

Houses of Parliament and Portcullis House viewed across the Thames

FBUK welcomes increase in IHT threshold

December 23, 2025

Family Business UK has welcomed today’s announcement from government that the thresholds for both BPR and APR will be increased from £1m to £2.5m. The change means that the allowance for married couples will be increased to £5m. The change follows the work done by FBUK, and other organisations, over the last 14 months to […]

Cautious welcome for farming review

December 19, 2025

Family Business UK has given a cautious welcome to the Government’s review of farming profitability – conducted by the former NFU President, Baroness Minette Batters. The review, which was commissioned earlier in 2025, makes 57 recommendations to government. For family-owned farms and businesses the core issue of changes to inheritance tax fell outside the scope […]

Interest Rate Cuts – December 2025

December 18, 2025

Today’s cut in interest rates by the Bank of England is welcome news for family businesses, offering some relief after a prolonged period of high borrowing costs. However, inflation remains above the 2% target and unemployment is rising, with almost one million young people currently not in work, education or training. These challenges are being […]

Finance Bill second reading: what you need to know

December 12, 2025

On Tuesday afternoon (16 December 2025), MPs in the House of Commons will debate and vote on the second reading of the Finance Bill – an important moment in the Bill’s journey through Parliament. The second reading is the first substantive opportunity for MPs to debate the Bill as a whole and to decide whether […]