New Research on Family Business and ESG
29th January 2024
The pressure is on for all firms to pay close attention to environmental, social and governance (ESG) dimensions. Yet there has been little research to date on the environmental dimension of ESG focusing specifically on family firms. As a first step, the Family Business Research Foundation is commissioning a review of the existing evidence base and survey of existing guidance on ESG to assess its relevance to family firms. This review will inform new primary research on ESG in family firms and the development of new evidence-based practice guidance for UK family firms at a second stage.
The Family Business Research Foundation is undertaking this new research to understand better how family firms in the UK are currently approaching ESG, how and to what extent they embed ESG into their strategies and operations, and what benefits, risks, and challenges they face in doing so. The Charity is collaborating with a team of family business researchers from three UK universities (Leicester, Loughborough, and Lancaster) to conduct this research.
The project is being led by Professor Mat Hughes (University of Leicester) and will (1) review what evidence there is on ESG in family firms, and (2) survey and review the practice guidance available to UK firms on ESG and assess its relevance to family firms. As part of this, the team will review existing research on ESG in family firms, conduct a practice review of existing guidance and frameworks relating to ESG, and identify up to 10 UK family firms engaging in good ESG practices to give life to how UK family firms are managing their ESG obligations and ambitions. This work will then inform new primary research on ESG in family firms and the development of new evidence-based guidance tailored to family businesses in the UK.
If you are a family business in the UK and are proud of what you do on ESG, and would like to share that practice with the team or be willing to be interviewed and featured as part of our good practice case vignettes, then please email Professor Mat Hughes at m.hughes@leicester.ac.uk).
If you are conducting research on ESG in family firms and wish to see your research included in this study, please contact Professor Hughes.
For more information about the research, please contact Professor Mat Hughes at m.hughes@leicester.ac.uk or Dr Martin Kemp at Research@fbrf.org.uk