Kanishka Narayan

I will start by doing what the Opposition failed to do, which is to recognise the particular contribution of family businesses. I think family businesses in the Vale of Glamorgan will be disappointed that the shadow Chancellor trotted out a generic business conversation, rather than honing in on what is special about family businesses. What is special about family businesses can be counted in the Vale of Glamorgan and across the country. Family businesses make up the majority of businesses in the Vale of Glamorgan, but their contribution cannot just be counted, it can be felt. I feel it on a weekly basis in the sandwiches of the Food for Thought deli on Barry high street, where I see the incredible effort that Nathan, Sarah, Leroy and the whole team put in. I felt it on a visit to Clive Edwards Contracts in Colwinston, where Josh Edwards is taking on what his father started. I have felt it in the coffee of the Welsh Coffee Company, best consumed on the coastline of Ogmore-by-Sea. And I have felt it very specifically in the joy delivered by the traders of Barry Island, the primary effort drivers who bring waves of tourists to our shores. I have mentioned those contributions being felt, because they are the distinct contributions of family businesses. Many family businesses work way over time, putting a huge amount of personal and financial risk and wider collective effort into their businesses, but they make a wider contribution too. The median tenure of a FTSE chief executive officer is around five and a half years, but the tenure of family businesses is multigenerational. They are the drivers of patient capital decisions, they are the drivers often of conviction in those decisions, and they are the drivers often of both philanthropy and values in a number of business decisions, as Opposition Members have mentioned.