ABSTRACT

This chapter investigates family involvement in the survival, maintenance and growth of business service businesses in two contrasting urban locations: the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in the North East of England and the new town of Milton Keynes in the South East. It reports patterns of family and non-family work and employment and business owners' intentions towards further employment growth. The chapter reports the employment intentions and recruitment practices of the employing micro-businesses and then turns to ways in which human resources were called upon by means other than direct employment. Some form of contact with local institutions was quite high. Yet there was a marked lack of enthusiasm for formal and institutional networks even from people who nominally participated in them. The most spectacularly unsuccessful venture into employing family was the experience of husband and wife business owners Eric and Pat has mentioned.