BREXIT is the biggest single issue which will have the greatest impact on business in the next 12 months, according to hundreds of family business owners.

With prime minister Theresa May revealing she will trigger Article 50 by the end of the month, Brexit is revealed as the number one topic in the UK’s biggest survey of family businesses.

More than 400 family businesses from across 32 UK counties, who employ 8,000 people with a salary bill of more than £210m, took part in the survey, conducted by leading independent financial and business advisers Armstrong Watson.

Family businesses account for at least 70 per cent of all private sector businesses.

Thirty-five per cent of respondents to the survey cited Brexit as the issue set to have the greatest impact on their business in 2017. Of those, 69 per cent expect it to have a negative impact.

In Cumbria 33 per cent cited Brexit as the biggest issue and 75 per cent of those expect it to have a negative impact.

The next single biggest issue was the National Living Wage. Of the 10 per cent of Cumbrian businesses which highlighted it, all expect it to have a negative effect.

The main positive picked out by family businesses was low interest rates, with 67 per cent of Cumbrian businesses who referred to this area of finance expecting it to have a positive impact on their business this year.

When it comes to future ownership, 36 per cent of Cumbrian family business owners plan to hand their business over to their children, but 15 per cent plan to sell to the highest bidder, 11 per cent plan to sell to the bidder who will carry on their ethos and values, and nine per cent plan to cease trading altogether.

But they are not in any rush to make those changes, with 46 per cent set to carry on in the same ownership for more than 10 years, with only 24 per cent set to change within the next five years.

When it comes to their personal finance only 36 per cent of Cumbrian family business owners are confident the funds they have earmarked for retirement will be sufficient to support their desired lifestyle.

Cumbrian businesses made up 46 per cent of the total respondents to the survey, with agriculture, property and construction, hospitality, manufacturing, motor and haulage, and retail, some of the key sectors represented.

Celebrating its 150th anniversary, financial and business advisory experts Armstrong Watson, the largest independent business of its kind across Cumbria, Yorkshire and Scotland, says the information helps family businesses plan for the future.

Paul Dickson, managing partner of Armstrong Watson, said: “By understanding the current thinking within UK family businesses, we are able to ensure more businesses are protected, survival rates increase and, perhaps most importantly, they continue to prosper.”

As part of its work with family businesses, Armstrong Watson supported the first Cumbria Family Business Awards held at the Castle Green Hotel, Kendal, last week. It is also pioneering a Family Business Portrait project with award-winning professional artist Helen Perkins as part of its work to highlight the valued contribution family businesses make to the economy as featured in-Cumbria business magazine and its sister website in-cumbria.com. Among the businessmen and women to be featured is Mike Lee, of Palace Cycles in Carlisle.

Armstrong Watson is also organising the first Business Improvement Programme event to be held in Cumbria, working in partnership with Australian business mentor Alec Blacklaw.

Bookings are being taken now for the two-day course which will be held at Armathwaite Hall in May with a broad range of Cumbrian businesses due to be represented.