Family businesses make a significant contribution to the national economy, as they have done for generations and continue to make an impact today, locally, regionally and nationally. Many have been around for generations and over the years have witnessed many historic events such as the industrial revolution, the first landing on the moon, lived through wars and been integral in supporting the communities in which they operate through good times and bad.
Where the idea for an archive started?
For over 10 years now, I have had the privilege of visiting family businesses across the UK to see first-hand what they do, where they do it - touring farms, factories and offices across most sectors of the national economy. It is fascinating to see what family firms do on a daily basis and I love their narrative.
Every family business has a story to tell, a pride in what they do and where the business has come from, and it is incredibly special when we get to see pictures of reports, adverts, postcards, products and images from their archives. Listening to the stories of previous generations, what they went through and seeing the evolution through their materials is a real privilege and these items deserve to be preserved.
A digital archive for future generations
For a number of years I have wanted to create a digital archive that collates and shares some of these images, to preserve their historical and social reference points for generations to come, and have decided that now the time is right.
We have a partner who can help us build the archive, upload items that need to be scanned and preserved digitally, and there are plenty of tools available to help scan old photos that capture the essence of a community that continues to evolve.
History and heritage play such an important part of the family business story that it deserves to be captured and preserved so that people in the future have a good understanding of what went before, and what has helped create the essence of the businesses and the brands that remain today. Some will not survive as businesses but their story deserves to be captured and the digital archive will help us to do just that.
Collections that matter...
We plan to collate and store images in various collections such as heritage, centenarians, apprentices, regionally (eg Yorkshire, Scotland, Midlands) and for people, industry sectors and more besides.
We will also be offering individual family businesses to create their own collection within the archive, with items being shared across the other collections too. This will help build a collaborative environment to showcase the real depth and diversity of the world of family business and to help demonstrate the impact that family firms have on communities and industry sectors across the UK.
How the funds will be used...
The funds raised will enable the archive to be created and a framework designed to capture digital assets and provide the platform to grow and build an archive that reflects the very essence of a family business community that I work within each and every day.
The funds raised by this campaign will enable us to make a difference and hopefully create something special that will endure for many generations to come.
Maintaining the archive
Going forward we will continue to create new collections, encourage memberships and exclusive collections plus continue to sign up new family firms to create their own archives, apply for any grants available and seek sponsors to help us to finance the long term sustainability of this unique resource.