Succession is one of the most written about subjects in family business. It is also one of the most poorly executed. Across generations and geographies, the same patterns repeat: transition plans that stall, timelines that slip, next generation leaders who are technically in post but not truly in charge.

The world is changing faster than most leadership models were built to handle. For family businesses, that creates both a particular pressure and a particular opportunity.

There is something quietly remarkable about a family business that has been trading for a hundred years or more.

Here, we set out the ten issues that are defining the family business agenda in 2026 — and why they matter.

More and more daughters are stepping up, stepping in, and stepping forward to lead the businesses their families have spent generations building.

How a family business manages the sibling dynamic can determine not just whether the working relationship survives, but whether the business itself does.

Letting go is not a sign of weakness or indifference. It is, in fact, one of the most courageous and strategic decisions a family business leader will ever make.

Family businesses are prioritising near-term financial stability over strengthening resilience, as economic pressures continue to drive their strategic focus, finds Hymans Robertson Personal Wealth.

With emotion, legacy, and strategy all intertwined, successful succession requires foresight, structure, and a willingness to confront difficult truths.

As family businesses a balance must be maintained between preserving the family business legacy and allowing individual family members the freedom to pursue their own ambitions.

Robust risk management procedures are therefore not a bureaucratic exercise, but a vital discipline that helps family enterprises survive, grow and pass successfully from one generation to the next.

How leadership alignment turns values into lived culture — and a genuine competitive advantage.

There is a particular weight that comes with inheriting more than a name. For the next generation of family business owners, succession is rarely just a career move—it is a deeply personal crossroads, where legacy, expectation, and identity collide.

AI presents both an opportunity and a risk: adopt it wisely, and it can enhance competitiveness and efficiency; ignore it, and a firm risks being overtaken by more agile, digitally-savvy competitors.

The leader who retires in theory but not in behaviour, can be one of the most common and corrosive issues in family-run firms

A strong governance framework is not about bureaucracy or distancing the family from the business; it is about creating clarity, resilience and continuity so that both can thrive together.

A new survey has found that UK business leaders are struggling with the increasing complexity of their roles.

Leadership misalignment and a culture of risk aversion are holding back responsiveness of UK businesses, according to latest research from Menzies LLP.

It should not come as a surprise — yet it does for many family businesses — to learn that the most significant challenge standing in the way of enterprise longevity is family dissonance.

A new report from Livingston James in association with EY - Investigating the Future CEO, exposes an important leadership and technology adoption challenge for organisations across Scotland.