From My Family to Yours - Happy Holidays!

Like many of you, I was both saddened and slightly humbled by the death of the Queen earlier this year.

We can all appreciate the loss of a great leader and figurehead for our nation, respected around the world.

Beyond that, she embodied a familial, matriarchal approach to us as subjects and citizens.

I believe the family is the basic unit of human society - and any leader must build a network of families into communities, and communities into towns and cities, before they focus on issues between nations.

The Queen had that connection with people and at best our political leaders often fail to display it.

We need a government that helps families look after their own, to make them strong enough to support the older generations, care for the sick and most importantly nurture the next generation.

I see the family as a vital institution which we have taken for granted, even overlooked, in our rush to promote our rights as individuals.

A family is a form of covenant. In some ways, it's the very definition of a covenant: a group of people sharing mutual obligations, bound together across generations to pool resources, tackle challenges as one and pass on hard-won experience to the young.

Families encourage responsibility. They will always support and protect the individuals within the family – but not at the expense of avoiding one’s obligations.

I saw this in action in our family business.

To my mind, good businesses share many of the values of the family. They cherish their employees and the communities in which they operate, putting people’s needs and concerns at the heart of their decision-making.

At this time of year more than any other, the strength of the family is at the forefront of my mind.

I want to wish you and your family all the very best for the holiday season, and a prosperous and successful year in 2023. #phillipullmann #familybusiness #2023 #thequeenofengland #business #family