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Economic uncertainty is less of a threat to family businesses than to other SMEs, according to a specialist family business lawyer.

According to Nicolas Smith of the Veale Wasbrough law firm, there is more of a support structure around family businesses which can cushion them through rocky periods.

'There is often an ethos that the family business needs to be supported by the wider family when times are hard,' he says.

They are also better-able to plan long-term because they are under less pressure to perform for stakeholders.

Family firms make up 65 per cent or three million of the total 4.6 million private enterprises in the UK, estimates the Institute for Family Business

They account for 38 per cent of GDP in the private sector and 31 per cent of GDP in the public sector, says the Institute.

According to the government's business advisory service, other benefits of family-run businesses include common values, strong commitment, loyalty, stability and decreased costs.