Yorkshire’s economy has long been powered by family businesses, with a large network of firms built on hard work, judgement and reputation, often carried from one generation to the next.

For many of those firms, succession planning is a major topic of discussion, and rightfully so. According to the recent UBS Global Next Generation Report, the transfer of wealth is increasingly being viewed beyond the actual movement of assets to the transfer of responsibility, authority and stewardship. This means that in family businesses, the next generation may start shaping decisions years before shares, assets or formal control changes hands.

Next-generation leaders within family firms

Take a family business owner in Yorkshire who has spent decades growing a company from a local enterprise into a more established regional or national operation. A next generation family member, having built experience outside the business, may return with a different perspective and a clearer sense of where the firm needs to evolve.

The second generation may not yet hold formal control, but they are already influencing the direction of the business. That could mean asking sharper questions about customers, markets, technology, investment, risk, sustainability or the wider role of the company in its community. The current owner may still lead day to day, but strategy is no longer being shaped by one generation alone.

That is increasingly the reality for family enterprises. The UBS report found that just over half of next generation respondents were already active within the family ecosystem, either in the family business or the family office. It also found that the most common catalyst for moving the wealth transfer process forward, was the next generation taking on a larger role in the family business.

Why conversations often happen later than they should

Succession is often imagined as a single event, be it a retirement, a sale, a death or a legal transfer. But in practice, it is more often a long apprenticeship in judgement. Parents may invite sons and daughters into board meetings, ask them to oversee parts of the business, or give them responsibility for a smaller pool of assets. Through this process, they are testing technical skills, whilst also looking for maturity, appetite and the capability to make decisions under pressure.

Yet many families still leave the most important conversations too late. The report found that 44% of next-generation respondents first discussed family wealth in early adulthood, while 37% did so as teenagers and just 17% in childhood. At the same time, more than half said they believed parents should begin discussing wealth earlier, either in childhood or adolescence.

At UBS, we advise starting these conversations early, normalising the idea that family wealth comes with choices and obligations. That doesn’t mean sitting a 13-year-old down in front of a balance sheet or bringing them along to the boardroom, but casual conversations about the business’s purpose and a child’s future can go a long way.

How peer networks are influencing younger decision-makers

In Yorkshire, as in many British regions, family firms are deeply embedded in their communities, and those conversations can be especially personal. A business may employ neighbours, sponsor local clubs, support suppliers and carry the family name above the door. The emotional weight of succession can therefore be felt across the wider local economy.

Silence rarely protects families from that weight, and more often, it stores up tension. The UBS report found that, where conflict does emerge, communication breakdowns or avoidance of difficult topics are the most common cause. Family members, particularly of different generations, often have different ideas for the future direction of a family firm. One family member may want to grow the business, another may want to prioritise liquidity, and each may have a different view of what ‘fair’ looks like.

The families that navigate this well will most likely be the ones with better structures in place, whether through regular family meetings, clearer roles, agreed decision-making processes or independent advice that helps separate business questions from family history. Peer networks are also becoming more influential, with the UBS report finding that the next generation sees peers as their most important source of succession advice, ahead of wealth managers, lawyers and tax advisers.

That finding should not be dismissed as networking for its own sake. For younger family business leaders, peers can offer the lived experience that formal advisers often cannot: how to persuade a parent to delegate, manage sibling expectations, join a board before feeling ready, or decide whether to preserve, sell or diversify the family business.

For family firms in Yorkshire and beyond, the next generation is already shaping strategy, challenging old assumptions and bringing new perspectives on growth, risk and responsibility. The challenge is for families to start conversations early, and give future leaders the clarity, trust and support they need to protect what has been built while preparing it for what comes next.

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