Cavanna Homes attend the 2025 Family Business UK conference
“It’s clear that family businesses and their typically uncomplicated structures are more capable of adapting and responding efficiently to change and growth opportunities, than corporations often embroiled in policy and process.”
That’s the message from Cavanna Homes’ Managing Director Paul Moran after attending the Family Business UK Conference earlier this month (June 2025).
Paul, who joined the business in September 2024 and is now steering the company through the early years of its second century, attended the conference in Manchester with Tara Fishburne, a member of Cavanna Homes’ Family Council.
They joined more than 200 other leading family businesses in the UK to engage in discussions and listen to talks that identified how the vital ingredients of purpose and values can help sustain a successful family business.
The mood of the UK family business community feels optimistic, Paul believes.
“There is appetite for growth, especially when it comes to adopting new technologies to find new ways of working, and I think family businesses, given their flexible and forward-thinking set up, are well placed to achieve this,” he said.
“It was positive to observe this, especially given the potentially choppy waters ahead.”
The conference was dominated by discussions about the Government’s proposed changes to Business Property Relief (BPR) and how it will impact future generations. Paul said: “Business leaders and next-generation members are concerned about the policy change, and are seeking advice on effective ways to engage with government at a local or national level.”
A report produced by Family Business UK was discussed at the conference with the organisation encouraging attendees to send it to their local MPs to demonstrate how BPR – if implemented – will end up costing the Treasury.
Paul added: “We’ve already shared the report with our local MPs in Torbay and the areas in which we’re building, highlighting the threat changes to BPR have on family businesses and in turn our local economy.”
This is a similar message to that given by Cavanna Homes’ Chairman Keith Miller and former Chairman and current shareholder Jeremy Cavanna to Construction News earlier this year. The pair said that the reforms to BPR announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the October 2024 Budget would have a negative effect on its expansion plans and “slump growth”.
In addition to conversations about the impact of BPR, breakout sessions at the conference focused on the importance of a family ethos, ensuring that businesses continue to put it at the heart of all they do, particularly when new generations or non-family members take over.
“It came as no surprise to us how valuable and important maintaining a family ethos is. Cavanna Homes’ core values have remained central to how we operate as the business transitioned from being family-owned and run, to family-owned and run by an appointed team of professionals.
“Those values inform and guide us on operating safely, delivering a high-quality product and excellent customer service. I am proud of how integral they are to the business and to those who work with us.”
Family Business UK is the country’s largest organisation dedicated to representing, supporting and championing family businesses. The annual conference provides the opportunity for family firms to come together and discuss the opportunities and challenges they face. This year’s conference welcomed guest speakers, including Sir John Timpson CBE, chairman and owner of retailer Timpson.
