February 2025 – AbellMoney

Effective KPIs for Team-Building and Events Businesses

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are essential for understanding and improving business performance.
In my 20+ years of experience as an accountant, I’ve seen businesses that devote substantial time to financial reporting but neglect to monitor the metrics that drive growth. For team-building and events businesses, tracking the right KPIs is critical to understanding client satisfaction, marketing effectiveness, operational efficiency and financial health. These businesses often operate in a dynamic environment where success depends on delivering memorable experiences and efficient operations. Tracking KPIs helps to ensure you stay on top of customer demand, optimise resources and ultimately maximise profitability.
This blog has been split into the business areas that are essential to understand in order to continue to grow – being the customer; marketing; operations; and finance.
Customer Metrics
Customer metrics are central to understanding the quality of the experience you offer and how clients view your services. Positive customer relationships can drive repeat business, referrals and deliver long-term growth. Tracking these metrics helps you maintain a high level of customer satisfaction, which is especially important in team-building and events, where word-of-mouth recommendations and online reviews play a key role.

Feedback & Reviews – In an increasingly digital world, customer reviews on platforms like Google, TripAdvisorand social media can significantly impact your reputation. Positive feedback builds trust, while negative reviews highlight areas for improvement. By regularly monitoring reviews, you can quickly respond to issues, resolve complaints, and adapt your services to customer preferences. How do you choose where you’re going to eat or what activity to do for an occasion? If you’re not pushing for reviews on the platforms your ideal customers are using to make these decisions, how much business might you be missing out on?
Error Log & Resolution Time – In the events industry, problems can arise unexpectedly. Whether it’s a delay, technical difficulty, or an issue with event logistics, tracking complaints and how long it takes to resolve them can provide insights into operational weaknesses. By reducing resolution time, you can improve service quality and ensure a smoother event experience for your clients. What’s your average customer service response timeframe? What might happen if you halved it?
Repeat Customers & Referrals – Tracking repeat business and referrals is essential for understanding customer loyalty. Repeat customers are often more profitable, as they require less marketing spend to convert. In a team-building business, the value of referrals cannot be overstated – they are a testament to your brand’s trustworthiness and success in delivering memorable experiences. By tracking these metrics, you can tailor marketing strategies to encourage repeat business and strengthen your referral program.

Marketing Metrics
Marketing is the lifeblood of any business, and team-building and events companies are no exception. These businesses must stay ahead of competitors in an ever-evolving market by employing effective marketing strategies. Monitoring the right marketing metrics helps ensure your efforts are yielding the best return on investment (ROI) and allowing your business to reach new clients.

Email Engagement – Email marketing remains a powerful tool for building relationships with potential and existing clients. By analysing open rates, click-through rates and conversion rates from email campaigns, you can assess the effectiveness of your messaging and calls to action. This is especially important for team-building businesses, which often rely on repeat customers or corporate clients who need regular engagement. Have you evolved the way in which you speak to your customers in email campaigns in reaction to campaign success metrics?
Social Media Performance – For events and team-building companies, social media serves as both a marketing tool and a way to engage directly with clients (alongside ensuring you pass a simple credibility check). Monitoring metrics such as engagement, shares and audience growth on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and LinkedIn can help you gauge brand awareness and how well your content resonates with potential clients.
Website Analytics – Your website is the centrepiece of your online presence, so understanding how visitors interact with it is key to converting leads into clients. By tracking organic traffic, referral traffic, conversion rates and key user interactions (such as time spent on the page and bounce rates), you can optimise your site to enhance the user experience and improve conversion rates. Does one page get increased engagement? Can you replicate the drivers across the website?
Google My Business Insights – In the competitive events industry, visibility is crucial. Tracking Google My Business metrics such as visibility, search queries and customer actions (calls, directions, website visits) can help you understand how well your business is performing in local searches and how clients are engaging with your business online.
Search Engine Optimisation (“SEO”) Performance – For team-building and events businesses, SEO is essential for organic growth. Tracking organic website traffic, monitoring backlinks and assessing domain ratings helps you gauge the effectiveness of your SEO strategy. The better your SEO, the higher you’ll rank in search engines, making it easier for potential clients to find your services. For a business that relies on local clients or large events, this can significantly impact your client acquisition strategy.
Paid Marketing Performance – Paid marketing campaigns such as Google Ads or Facebook Ads can drive immediate traffic, but it’s essential to measure their effectiveness in terms of brand awareness and conversions to bookings. By tracking impressions, reach and the cost per conversion, you can refine your paid marketing strategy and ensure you’re getting the best ROI.

Operational Metrics
The success of any event, particularly in the team-building sector, hinges on operational efficiency. Tracking operational KPIs ensures that your business runs smoothly, maximising efficiency, reducing errors and optimising resource allocation.

Event Attendance & Capacity Utilisation – In the events industry, the ability to optimise event capacity is crucial to profitability. Tracking actual attendance against planned capacity allows you to make adjustments in real-time and better forecast demand for future events. This KPI helps avoid overbooking or underutilising venues and resources.
Game Completion Rates – In team-building businesses, it’s important to track how many teams complete experiences. This data helps you identify which activities or challenges are more engaging or highlighting where participants tend to drop off. Understanding this helps improve event design, ensuring participants stay engaged throughout the experience.
Time Efficiency – Efficiency is key to profitability, especially in events with tight schedules. By evaluating the time it takes to set up, run, and close down events, you can streamline processes, reduce costs and increase the overall quality of service. This is particularly relevant in team-building, where each minute counts to ensure a seamless experience. Neither the corporate nor individual attendees want to be waiting around twiddling their thumbs when they’ve managed to get some time away from their desks!
Staff Utilisation – In team-building and events businesses, your team is one of your most valuable assets. Monitoring how effectively team members are allocated based on demand and workload ensures you’re not overstaffed or understaffed, which can impact both customer experience and profitability.

Finance Metrics
Financial health is the backbone of any successful business, in particular a thorough understanding the financial metrics that drive profitability are essential. Team building and events businesses often deal with seasonal fluctuations in bookings and revenue, making it even more important to closely track financial KPIs.

Revenue Tracking Setup – Setting up accurate and relevant revenue tracking is vital. Categorising revenue by customer types or platforms helps you understand where your income is coming from, making it easier to allocate resources and make informed decisions (such as inking to appropriate marketing campaigns discussed earlier). Clear tracking ensures accurate financial reporting without the need to manipulate bookkeeping methods.
Profit Metrics – Identifying your key profit metric, whether gross profit, net profit, or another measure, helps you understand the true financial health of your business. Profitability is especially important in the competitive events industry, where margins can be thin. Excluding factors like depreciation gives a clearer picture of the actual profitability of the services you offer.
Bookings vs. Players – For team-building and events businesses, it’s important to distinguish between bookings made and actual players attending. This distinction helps track revenue in the pipeline, account for deferred revenue and predict future cash flow, which is critical for managing cash flow gaps between bookings and actual payments.
Balance Sheet (BS) Metrics – Monitoring balance sheet metrics such as assets, liabilities, and equity allow you to assess the financial stability of your business, which is especially important when considering future investments or expansion.
Cash Flow – Monitoring cash inflows and outflows helps ensure your business can meet its financial obligations, pay employees, and reinvest in growth. Cash flow management is particularly important in team-building and events businesses where seasonality or upfront payment schedules can create financial pressure. People often talk about different profit measures, EBITDA etc, but Cash is always King!
Forecasting Revenue – By updating forecasts based on confirmed bookings and conversion probability, you can project future income and better manage resources.
Revenue from New vs. Repeat Business – This metric helps assess customer loyalty and optimise marketing efforts. By tracking new versus repeat clients, you can tailor your strategy to retain loyal clients while attracting new ones.

Final Thoughts
Focusing on all of the above KPIs allows small businesses in the team-building and events industry to make informed decisions, improve operations, and drive sustainable growth.
Whether you’re managing corporate events, team-building activities, or social gatherings, tracking the right metrics ensures long-term success. By closely monitoring customer feedback, marketing performance, financial health, and operational efficiency, businesses can gain actionable insights to refine their strategies and optimise performance. The ability to track and respond to KPIs will help your business thrive, ensuring that every event, every booking, and every customer experience is a step toward greater success.
Whilst I know it sounds like a lot, once you develop good processes and systems these get easier and easier to update, track and compare. Using actual data to drive decisions, rather than relying on gut feel, will speed your company’s path to success!
Get on touch if you’d like to discuss further or understand the processes we’ve used at StreetHunt Games to track our KPI’s.
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Effective KPIs for Team-Building and Events Businesses

Alibaba commits $50bn to AI and cloud amid Jack Ma’s return to the s …

Alibaba, the Chinese tech conglomerate, has announced a colossal 380 billion yuan (£41.5 billion) investment in artificial intelligence and cloud computing over the next three years.
The news follows the public rehabilitation of the firm’s founder Jack Ma, who recently re-emerged alongside President Xi Jinping and other tech leaders at a high-profile summit in China.
Ma, once feted as the face of Chinese entrepreneurship, fell out of favour with Beijing five years ago after criticising China’s financial regulators. That clash culminated in the scrapping of Ant Group’s $37 billion initial public offering in 2020, once set to be the world’s largest. Ma all but disappeared from public life as Xi’s administration cracked down on influential tech billionaires.
However, his front-row seat at last week’s “tech summit” — flanked by notables including Liang Wenfeng of DeepSeek (an emerging AI challenger to American models), and executives from electric vehicle giant BYD and telecoms powerhouse Huawei — signals a marked shift. With the economy flagging post-Covid, Beijing appears to be easing its clampdown on big tech, instead placing renewed emphasis on the sector to drive growth.
Alibaba has branched out from its original B2B e-commerce roots, developing thriving logistics arms and financial spin-offs such as Ant Group. Its cloud division, Alibaba Cloud, already hosts significant R&D operations worldwide and recently launched its own AI offering, QWen, available to iPhone users in China via a dedicated app.
Eddie Wu Yongming, Alibaba’s chief executive, says the company intends to spend more on cloud and AI in three years than it has invested in the last decade. “We are excited by the business opportunities being unlocked by this new technology cycle,” he said. According to Alibaba’s latest financial report, quarterly profits reached 48.9 billion yuan (£5.3 billion), beating market forecasts and reinforcing investor confidence in the firm’s expansion plans.
Xi Jinping is betting heavily on advanced technologies — from AI to green energy solutions — to spur the next phase of China’s economic progress. Having seen a period of rocky growth and faced with renewed US tariff threats, Beijing now looks to homegrown champions for global tech leadership. DeepSeek’s recent unveiling of a cost-effective AI reasoning model with the potential to rival leading US systems has ignited national pride, though many experts maintain a degree of scepticism about its ability to overtake established players.
For Alibaba, the renewed support at the highest levels of government offers a chance to refocus on innovation after years of regulatory uncertainty. The question remains whether this investment — and Jack Ma’s return to the fold — will help China close the gap with American tech giants, especially in AI, a domain seen as key to the country’s global competitiveness.
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Alibaba commits $50bn to AI and cloud amid Jack Ma’s return to the spotlight

UK house prices have risen three times faster than flats since 2020

House prices have climbed three times faster than flat values since the start of the pandemic, with cladding concerns and mounting service charges weighing on the popularity of apartments, according to research from Zoopla.
The property portal’s data suggests that UK house prices have risen by 24 per cent over the past five years, compared with just 7 per cent growth for flats. Over the last year alone, flats edged up by 0.5 per cent, while houses advanced by 2.2 per cent. As a result, the average house price now stands at £319,445—1.7 times higher than the average flat price of £191,309—marking the largest price gap for more than three decades.
The “race for space” triggered by lockdowns was a key factor, with many people seeking larger homes and gardens after weeks cooped up indoors. Zoopla also points to the reputational harm suffered by flats amid mounting reports of high service charges, contested ground rents and concerns about building safety—particularly relating to cladding issues. “Flats have become even cheaper compared to houses over the last five years,” said Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla. While buyers still favour houses, Donnell believes there is scope for shrewd investors to capitalise on more affordable flats.
Signs of a modest rebound in flat prices in 2024 appear to be encouraging more vendors to test the market. In the opening weeks of 2025, Zoopla recorded a 14 per cent increase in the number of flats listed for sale, compared with a 5 per cent increase for houses.
Yet while flat owners now seem more willing to sell, a significant share stand to make little or no profit. Zoopla found that 15 per cent of flats currently on the market are listed below their previous purchase price, and about 40 per cent are set at less than £20,000 above the last sale.
Donnell said he does not expect house prices to continue outpacing flats indefinitely—particularly once additional stamp duty costs begin in April. A surge of buyers racing to complete deals before the threshold adjustment has pushed the volume of agreed sales up 10 per cent year on year. Once that rush subsides, he predicts relative price growth for houses may level off, potentially allowing more balance to return to the market.
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UK house prices have risen three times faster than flats since 2020

UK extends seasonal farm worker scheme for five years as inheritance t …

In an effort to ease tensions with the farming sector, Environment Secretary Steve Reed is set to confirm a five-year extension of the UK’s seasonal farm worker scheme.
The announcement, due at the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) conference, follows weeks of discontent sparked by inheritance tax changes in the spring budget.
Under the extended scheme, which was previously scheduled to expire in 2024, an annual quota of 45,000–55,000 visas will remain available to foreign workers for up to six months. This arrangement provides farms with a consistent seasonal workforce, particularly for labour-intensive fruit and vegetable harvesting. The NFU has repeatedly argued that without this scheme, British agriculture would face severe labour shortages, with an estimated £60 million worth of produce wasted in the first half of 2022 due to unpicked crops.
Reed’s announcement comes amid fierce criticism from farmers and industry bodies over the government’s inheritance tax (IHT) overhaul, a measure introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves. Critics claim the new rules threaten family-run farms, many of which have relied on long-standing reliefs to pass businesses on through generations. Some tax experts counter that loopholes had to be addressed, but leading figures at the NFU accuse ministers of breaking promises with what they deem a “morally wrong” policy.
Speaking at the NFU conference in central London, Reed will attempt to reassure farmers that the government intends to boost profitability in agriculture. “I will consider my time as secretary of state a failure if I do not improve profitability for farmers,” he is expected to say. “Ensuring farming becomes more profitable is how we make businesses viable for the future—and secure the long-term food security this country needs.”
However, industry leaders, including NFU president Tom Bradshaw and CBI chair Rain Newton-Smith, have warned of the policy’s far-reaching consequences. They say the new IHT rules risk undermining smaller farms struggling to stay afloat, particularly when many are already grappling with soaring input costs, supply chain disruptions and ongoing labour challenges.
Beyond addressing labour shortages, Reed will unveil a £110 million investment into agricultural technology, aimed at developing more advanced, automated methods of harvesting. Although the government hopes that robotics will ultimately reduce reliance on seasonal workers, large-scale deployment remains in its infancy. For now, many growers continue to depend on human pickers, especially for labour-intensive crops that technology cannot yet handle efficiently.
Reed will also announce the creation of a new national biosecurity centre. Focused on tackling animal diseases such as foot-and-mouth and bluetongue, the facility signals the government’s intent to safeguard the UK’s farming sector amid mounting environmental pressures and globalised trade risks.
With this extension of the seasonal worker scheme, the government is betting on a middle-ground approach: mitigating immediate labour shortfalls while paving the way for a more technologically driven farming future. The measure may go some way towards soothing industry frustrations, but whether it can truly mend the fractured relationship between Whitehall and the farming community—especially given the heated inheritance tax debate—remains to be seen.
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UK extends seasonal farm worker scheme for five years as inheritance tax row rumbles on

Heathrow welcomes record passengers as third runway plans take flight

Heathrow has revealed a record 83.9 million passengers passed through its four terminals last year, a 6 per cent increase on the previous period, boosting its pre-tax profits by nearly a third to £917 million in 2024.
The update arrives just weeks after Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed government support for a third runway, describing the project as “badly needed” to bolster Britain’s global connectivity.
Thomas Woldbye, Heathrow’s chief executive, pledged that the airport would invest significantly over the next decade to modernise and expand its facilities, calling the new runway “the largest private investment in the UK’s transport network.” He aims to see flights from the third runway by 2035, although regulatory approvals and climate targets remain major hurdles.
Heathrow’s revenue dipped 3.5 per cent to £3.6 billion last year, with underlying earnings (EBITDA) down 8.7 per cent to £2 billion—partly due to airlines benefiting from lower charges set by the Civil Aviation Authority. The airport plans to distribute a £250 million dividend to shareholders for the first time in five years, with recent acquisitions by French company Ardian and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund reshaping its ownership structure.
Other key shareholders include sovereign wealth funds from Qatar and China, in addition to large infrastructure funds.
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Heathrow welcomes record passengers as third runway plans take flight

Most UK businesses to ‘rethink their plans’ as tax rise takes toll

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has warned that 8 in 10 UK companies will be forced to reconsider their future strategies when the proposed increase in employers’ national insurance contributions takes effect, bringing a “powder keg of costs” for businesses.
In a recent poll, 82 per cent of BCC-member companies said the higher tax burden will prompt them to revisit their operational plans, while 58 per cent expect a negative impact on recruitment and 54 per cent anticipate hiking their prices. More than a third (36 per cent) believe the rise will hold back investment.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in October’s budget that employers’ national insurance contributions will go up by 1.2 percentage points to 15 per cent from April, alongside a reduction in the annual salary threshold at which businesses start paying national insurance, from £9,100 down to £5,000. Ministers forecast these moves will raise £25 billion a year by the end of the decade.
Reeves has defended the measure as “the right choice to make”, insisting that “successful businesses depend on successful schools, healthy businesses depend on a healthy NHS and a strong economy depends on strong public finances”.
However, corporate leaders, especially those in lower-margin sectors such as retail and hospitality, have criticised the rise, citing it as one more cost on top of reforms in workers’ rights and higher minimum wages. In a letter to Reeves in November, more than 70 high-profile retailers—including Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Next—warned that rising costs would “inevitably” lead to job losses.
The BCC, which operates 51 chambers across the country and surveyed around 1,300 predominantly small businesses (fewer than 250 employees), also revealed that many firms are dissatisfied with the Government’s broader policymaking. Nearly 80 per cent felt that new policy effects are not being properly assessed.
Alex Veitch, the BCC’s director of policy, said the survey points to businesses “sitting on a powder keg of costs”. He noted that most firms “will have to raise prices and reconsider recruitment plans”, a situation he argues could undermine economic growth—a key government priority.
Veitch added that the Government should “pause for thought” over continuing its national insurance strategy for the duration of this parliament, and urged “urgent” business rates reform. He also raised concerns about the planned expansion of employment rights legislation, saying, “Some of the proposals are completely disproportionate to the reality of how businesses are operating.”
Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, met with corporate leaders in London this month, acknowledging that the latest budget “asked a great deal of business”. He stressed, however, that these measures are essential to restoring public finances and funding infrastructure improvements, which, in his view, will bolster UK competitiveness in the long term.
Ministers point to major commitments such as backing for a third runway at Heathrow, infrastructure developments in the Oxford-Cambridge corridor, and the launch of the National Wealth Fund as proof that the Government remains focused on spurring growth.
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Most UK businesses to ‘rethink their plans’ as tax rise takes toll

Tesla shares slip below $1tn valuation as European sales slump by near …

Tesla’s market value has dipped below the $1 trillion mark for the first time since November 2024, after fresh data showed its sales in Europe and the UK fell by almost 50 per cent in January.
The decline stands in stark contrast to a 34 per cent rise in European electric car registrations overall, according to industry group Acea.
Analysts say the slump highlights intensifying competition in the European EV sector, notably from Chinese manufacturer BYD, which bundles certain vehicle features as standard rather than as add-ons. AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould adds that some customers may also be making a “principled stand” against Tesla’s chief, Elon Musk, following his controversial political engagements in both the US and Europe.
Mould points to mounting rivalry—particularly BYD and other Chinese firms—as a key driver behind Tesla’s weaker performance. The impact of Musk’s political statements is also coming under scrutiny, with critics citing his public support for jailed far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon in the UK (known as Tommy Robinson), praise for Germany’s far-right AfD party, and purported attempts in the US to reduce public funding. Furthermore, Musk’s prior closeness to President Donald Trump—who has repeatedly criticised electric vehicles—has drawn questions about Tesla’s long-term benefits from a Trump administration.
This downturn follows Tesla’s first annual sales decline in over a decade last year, when the EV pioneer faced a slowdown in demand. While it had received a share-price boost post-election on hopes that Musk’s ties to Trump would bolster the brand, analysts now see little upside from that relationship, particularly as Trump pledges to reverse initiatives that encourage the adoption of electric cars. Meanwhile, interest rate uncertainties and potential new tariffs under Trump are adding to market jitters around Tesla’s outlook.
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Tesla shares slip below $1tn valuation as European sales slump by nearly half

Bybit suffers £1.1bn crypto heist in largest alleged theft on record

Bybit, a Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange, has disclosed that hackers stole $1.5 billion (£1.1 billion) worth of digital assets in what may rank as the largest crypto theft in history.
The breach, which targeted the platform’s Ethereum wallet, has raised fresh alarms over security vulnerabilities in a market already grappling with transparency issues.
Ben Zhou, Bybit’s founder, moved quickly to reassure customers that their funds were secure, pledging the exchange would cover any losses—either by dipping into its own reserves or seeking partner loans. “Bybit is solvent even if this hack loss is not recovered,” he stated, insisting user deposits remain fully backed, “1 to 1.”
The attackers reportedly exploited security loopholes to move funds to an unknown digital address. Ethereum, the world’s second most valuable cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, fell 4% in value on Friday to $2,641.41 (£2,090) in response to news of the breach. Bybit holds around $20 billion (£15 billion) in assets under management and says it has reported the incident to the authorities.
If confirmed, the theft would eclipse a $620 million (£490 million) hack in 2022, when cybercriminals stole Ethereum and USD Coin from the Ronin Network. Founded in 2018, Bybit previously received backing from high-profile names including US President Donald Trump and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, according to reports.
Despite the staggering figure, Mr Zhou insists that Bybit’s customers will not be left out of pocket. “All of clients’ assets are 1 to 1 backed,” he said on social media. “We can cover the loss.” The company has promised a full refund to those affected, though it remains unclear how it will ultimately raise the $1.5 billion required.
Scrutiny around the cryptocurrency industry has intensified in recent years, especially after Mr Trump’s own foray into digital coins. The former president launched a cryptocurrency called ‘TRUMP’ ahead of his inauguration, but later claimed limited knowledge about digital assets. Meanwhile, Elon Musk—chief executive of Tesla and an adviser to Mr Trump—has been known to talk up Bitcoin and other cryptos, further fuelling volatility.
Notable crypto heists include the collapse of Tokyo-based exchange Mt Gox in 2014, which lost $350 million (£210 million) in a security breach, and a 2019 incident in which Binance suffered a $41 million Bitcoin theft. Industry insiders say such thefts underscore lingering security concerns, undermining efforts to rebuild confidence in digital assets as a serious investment class.
Bybit said it is “working quickly and extensively” to trace the hackers, while seeking closer cooperation with security experts and law enforcement. For now, the firm and its users must contend with a high-profile reminder that even major players are not immune to crypto’s persistent and costly security hazards.
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Bybit suffers £1.1bn crypto heist in largest alleged theft on record

CBI boss warns Reeves’s farm tax raid could hobble Britain’s econo …

Rachel Reeves’s plan to reduce inheritance tax relief for farmers risks hampering growth and destabilising the wider economy, according to Rain Newton-Smith, head of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).
Addressing the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) on Tuesday, Newton-Smith criticised the Chancellor’s decision to cut Agricultural Property Relief—previously exempting farms from inheritance tax—as a “£500 million raid” that has led to a collapse in industry confidence.
Under the revised policy, scheduled for April, the effective inheritance tax (IHT) charge on farm estates will climb to 20 per cent. The CBI boss argues this puts the “foundational sector” of farming in jeopardy and could threaten Britain’s domestic food security: “Fifty-eight per cent of food consumed in the UK comes from UK farmers,” she noted. “To ensure a resilient economy, we need a strong farming community.”
While Reeves contends the measure is essential to boosting tax revenues, critics point to the disproportionate impact on family-run businesses. Newton-Smith warns thousands of farmers face being forced to sell land or assets to cover these new costs. CBI research estimates that comparable reductions in relief could cost up to 125,900 jobs by 2030 and may ultimately result in a £1.26 billion net loss to the Treasury.
Tom Bradshaw, the NFU president, says he has offered an alternative: levying IHT only if farm assets are sold within seven years of the owner’s death. He contends this approach would protect farmers from incurring punitive taxes on illiquid assets. However, Bradshaw told delegates the Treasury had effectively dismissed the proposal, leaving farmers disillusioned and determined to “fight the family farm tax until ministers do the right thing.”
Environment Secretary Steve Reed is expected to face questions from NFU members at the conference. While he has pledged to make agriculture more profitable, political pressure continues to grow on Reeves ahead of the next Office for Budget Responsibility update. The Chancellor’s new fiscal rules mandate day-to-day spending be covered by tax receipts, leaving little budgetary headroom if this IHT reform proves detrimental to revenues in the longer term.
In the meantime, Newton-Smith insists an urgent dialogue is needed before thousands of farming families are left facing financial strain. “Any plan for growth or industrial strategy will fail if we do not first back our foundational sectors,” she said.
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CBI boss warns Reeves’s farm tax raid could hobble Britain’s economy