comment & policy
Steve champions long-term thinking and policies to unlock the potential of businesses in the UK.
PRIVATE AND FAMILY BUSINESSES
“We need to empower private and family businesses as key drivers for Britain’s long-term growth, innovation, and prosperity.”
Private businesses, many of them family-owned, are the backbone of the UK economy, driving long-term growth, creating jobs, generating wealth, and fostering innovation. Yet, despite their vital contributions, they are often overlooked by policymakers, who tend to focus on start-ups and scale-ups.
Steve is a passionate advocate for stronger government support to ensure private businesses thrive. As Chair of Family Businesses UK (FBUK), the nation’s leading voice for family-owned enterprises, and Member of Natwest Group’s Mid-market Growth council and the Private Business Commission, he brings together business leaders to tackle critical issues, from tax incentives to access to funding.
Through his leadership and advocacy, Steve is working to build a policy environment that empowers private businesses to scale and succeed, securing a prosperous future for the UK economy.
Initiatives
Family Business UK (FBUK)
Steve chairs Family Business UK (FBUK), the nation’s leading advocate for family-owned enterprises, strengthening their impact and success.
NatWest Mid-Market Growth Council
Steve is a member of NatWest’s Mid-Market Growth Council, championing the interests of mid-sized businesses and helping to drive their growth.
Steve is a proud supporter of the 2025 Rising Stars competition, which seeks to uncover and accelerate the UK’s most innovative early-stage companies.
Rising Stars Competition
Steve chairs the UK’s Private Business Commission, which identifies and recommends reforms to improve the business environment in the UK.
Private Business Commission
COMMENTARY
UNLOCKING REGIONAL GROWTH
“To unlock growth across Britain, we must devolve power and opportunities.”
Growth and human potential depend on skills, access to opportunity, reliable public services and a path to progress. Yet, despite its rich democratic history, Britain has become too centralised around Whitehall, resulting in regional underperformance.
Both the public and private sectors must do more to create training and employment opportunities beyond London, driving local prosperity and economic diversification.
As a business leader and philanthropist, Steve actively supports initiatives that strengthen regional business, employment, and skills development, particularly in the West Midlands where Rigby Group is based, helping to build a more balanced and dynamic UK economy.
Initiatives
IMPACT OF US TARIFFS ON WEST MIDLANDS
Steve has prepared a report, commissioned by the West Midlands Mayor, to assess the impact of emerging tariffs and set out plans to protect regional businesses.
Steve was an investor and judge of the ground-breaking One to Win competition, a £1 million prize fund accelerating tech innovation in the West Midlands.
One to Win
Steve is a proud supporter of the 2025 Rising Stars competition, which seeks to uncover and accelerate the UK’s most innovative early-stage companies.
Rising Stars Competition
Commentary
place-based giving
“Success in business goes hand-in-hand with giving back to the communities in which we operate.”
Steve Rigby is a passionate advocate for place-based giving, an approach that calls on businesses and philanthropists to invest in the communities where they operate, helping to build stronger, more resilient local economies.
Grounded in robust research and strategic insight, Steve believes that meaningful change happens when philanthropists collaborate with local leaders and residents to increase access to funding, skills, and opportunities in specific geographic areas.
As Chair of The Rigby Foundation, Steve supports programmes that enable young people, regardless of their background, to access the best education possible and to secure meaningful and sustainable employment. The Foundation supports projects in the West Midlands with a particular focus on central and south Birmingham.
initiatives
The Rigby Foundation is partnering with The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) to explore how best to address the growing challenge of absenteeism in schools.
Absenteeism research
A New Deal for Young People in the West Midlands is a report based on detailed research among education leaders and charities to lay out challenges facing young people across the region.