He may not seem to have friends, though that may be because he's either working, gardening, doing DIY, doing the allotment, growing seeds etc! I bet R is non stop "I want this, NOW'. R's been brought up to think she should always be looked after. Most of us reached 16 or so and wanted our independence. As women, most of us will have fought to be taken seriously, had to work 10 times as hard to be taken seriously. R wanted her daddy to look after her forever. She likes being a little girl who cries if she doesn't get what she wants. R's basically emulating her parents. But her parents now, not when they were young and developing a business. R wants her mum's life and for Ben to be her dad. I reckon he has been on the receiving end of R's Dad's 'chats' a hell of a lot of times.
Ben's dad seems to have been an accountant too. Ben has no backbone, he just fits other people's moulds. He clearly wanted to make a lot of money and that is the bond he shares with R and her family. I think it was R and her family who told him accountancy wasn't going to make him rich. He's so entwined with that family, professionally too, so even if he wanted to escape, he couldn't. R and Ben's relationship started in a really, really dodgy way. It could be seen as grooming. But Ben's been groomed too, by the Kedgleys. I actually think she did all the pressurising. She planned their wedding booking the venue, photographer and flowers before they were engaged. She even wanted a ring from Liberty's because that's where her dad bought her mum's ring. I reckon Ben thought money would set him free and give him choices in life. It hasn't. His child bride will never grow up. He's on a conveyer belt. She will never, ever be satisfied.