As part of its support for sustainable forest management, the Forestry Commission commissioned Firn Crichton Roberts Ltd and John Clegg & Co to undertake a survey of FIBs which could both generate benchmark information on these private businesses, and also identify potential innovations in business development support for the forest industries in Britain. The objectives of the research included establishing business health and viability indicators for FIBs; generating a representative survey sample for the constituent forest industry segments; identifying the main economic and policy factors that influence business performance and prospects in FIBs; assessing the business impact of the introduction of Certification and UKWAS; and making recommendations on future business support and survey requirements for the industry.