The purpose and strategic direction of an organisation lies at the heart of impactful leadership, says Saara Bange, Associate Director at Aalto University Executive Education. Based on the leadership framework at Aalto University Executive Education, Bange says that the knowledge, skills and competencies of an effective leader come down to three key factors; sensemaking and interpreting, adapting and aligning, renewing and growing. A key skill of a leader is to break down information and use it as an aid for decision making – sensemaking and interpretation is key for this as it describes the way we make sense of the world around us. The leader’s task is to ask; What is happening? What will happen? Which beliefs will influence the events? It is necessary to understand and accept that the answers will never be perfect, says Bange. She adds that this imperfection cannot paralyze decision-making and execution which brings us to the second factor; adapting and aligning. This refers to a leader’s ability to adapt activities to the surrounding reality as it is interpreted – the company strategy, context, and events on both a micro and macro level. On an individual level, it means that leaders who are aware of their behavioural styles and ways of making sense of the world can use that knowledge to adapt to the situation. The third skill is renewing and growing – this is both the leader’s personal renewal and the impact on organizational renewal and growth. Bange says that this may require challenging both the leader’s own and the organization’s mindsets. She adds that adapting and aligning involves continual development, whereas renewing and growing refer to a leader’s ability to respond to sporadic, surprising changes in the operating environment. “It is important to remember that leadership never takes place in a vacuum; the organizational and wider context exist along the perimeters of leadership.” “Even the most skilled leader is unable to leave a positive imprint without structures and frameworks that support leadership. The collective capabilities, knowledge, and skills of the organization set the conditions for a leader’s activities,” says Bange. By strengthening these knowledge, skills and individual competences, Bange believes leaders can become more effective and leave their mark – on the team, organization, and surrounding society.

As the UN’s Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) gets underway, HLB has published its 2021 Sustainability report, “Is your strategy sustainable?” This new report outlines a three-step roadmap to help businesses develop their sustainability strategy and explores the technologies that can help at each stage. Many businesses still find it difficult to begin their journey to net-zero. We are at a pivotal moment to take action on climate change, and HLB is dedicated to helping clients develop sustainability strategies for a better future. “Sustainability needs to be baked into your strategy at its core, not as a supplement or an add-on’’ says HLB’s Global Sustainability Advisory Leader Manosij Ganguli. ‘’A sustainable business will be a profitable business that will be around in the long-term. Our new report offers clear guidance for business owners, many of whom know they need to think more sustainably, but don’t know how or where to begin on their journey to net-zero.” The HLB report suggests starting small but with decisive actions and follow HLB’s three-step roadmap: Step one –taking a snapshot of your baseline Step two – targeting a sustainable business model Step three – monitoring and reporting to realise a sustainable vision Within each step of the journey, some practical actions are highlighted to support new strategic objectives, as well as boosting business’s bottom line. It also includes key sustainability and technology questions to help determine a starting point, transform and reshape the business model, and measure and report on progress. You can read the full report below:

There is growing pressure on businesses to play their part in tackling climate change, and an increasing number of companies are making commitments to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. But how reliable are the data and metrics that companies disclose? Not very, according to voices from financial markets to civil society, who are increasingly raising questions about the quality of the data underpinning corporate climate reporting. Without trust in data, doubts will grow about businesses’ ability to tackle the problem and whether they are delivering on their promises to reduce emissions. Companies, consumers, policymakers and investors all require trustworthy data to make informed decisions on climate change as we ratchet up actions towards global reduction commitments. This paper, published by PwC, explains where the mistrust is coming from, the questions to ask of companies, and the steps that businesses, including family businesses, and others can take to increase the robustness of the data. Download and read the full paper below:

Leading glass packaging company, Croxsons, has made changes to its leadership structure as part of their succession plans. Tim Croxson, currently the company’s COO, has taken up the position of CEO with immediate effect, in place of his father, James Croxson, who steps aside to concentrate more on developing Croxsons’ international concerns. The change of ownership, due to be formalized later in the year, comes after a period of extraordinary growth for the family firm, who celebrate their remarkable 150th anniversary next year. In taking the business forward and increasing its market share, both James and Tim, who represent 4th and 5th generations of the Croxsons family respectively, have enjoyed a fruitful partnership together over the past 20 years. Global sales, has enabled Croxsons to extend its reach and strengthened its brand – a development that was rewarded with a Queen’s Award in 2019 for exceptional progress being made in international growth and exports. Regularly featuring in the Sunday Times Fast Track 200, Croxson has offices in the UK, Australia, New Zealand. USA and Hong Kong. “Having been in the business for over 50 years, I have seen both the packaging industry and my own company change extensively in that time,” said James Croxson, who turned 70 earlier this year. “The company has grown from being wine barrel suppliers and bottle washers in 1872 to now a Global packaging supplier, providing over 50 different countries with millions of bottles, jars, caps and corks. As we approach 150 years of being a family owned business, we are proud of our company, its heritage, its 5 generations, its great team and all its achievements.” “As is the norm in a fast growing SME, I have done every role and have built a great team over the past 50 years, who have been a joy to direct and lead. My main focuses going forward are international sales, continuing to build our international sales teams and giving the next generation some inevitable pearls of wisdom. And like Tim, I look forward to the next chapter in Croxsons’ illustrious history.” Tim Croxson added: “Moving into the CEO seat at Croxsons is really a natural progression for both James and I. Our combined strengths and the team we have built around us, have helped put the company into an incredibly strong position. Alongside the board, we’ve both worked hard to future-proof our offering and be clear on our purpose, thereby ensuring we continue to be relevant for the next 150 years. I look forward immensely to continuing that self-belief, creating value for our customers, and maintaining our uniqueness.”

How can you ensure that your business reflects the character of your family? Could an internal brand be part of the solution? The defining feature of a family business is the family – whether that’s a couple, siblings, or a multi-generational dynasty. Whatever the configuration might be, if you’re going to identify as a family business, you want to be able to see yourself in it. It might sound abstract and impersonal to talk about your family as part of a brand strategy, but ultimately it’s about ensuring that your business reflects who you are. What are you like? What are you passionate about? How do you work out what is most important to you, and embed those priorities in the company? Express What Matters As the Institute for Family Business puts it, “building a compelling family business brand necessarily involves bringing the values that define the company and the family to life.” The first step is to articulate what your values are, and why they should matter to your audience. Family culture is usually unspoken, but you have to be explicit about it if you want to pass it on. That means paying attention to your internal brand – how your employees perceive the company and what they think its characteristics are. Your employees see the workings of your business every day. They know whether it is living up to the rhetoric or not. You’re relying on them to express the company through their work, whether that is in marketing, dealing with partners or suppliers, or workplace culture. They are an audience for the brand, just as much as customers are. And if you are going to be the face of a company, especially one with your name on it, you have to know that your employees see it the same way you do. Pass It Down Family businesses often pass on their brand characteristics informally from one generation to another. For example, Lego began with a woodworker called Ole Kirk Christiansen. He made wooden toys by hand, and when he first moved to machine tooling, he made himself a reminder to maintain the same high standards: he carved the words ‘only the best is good enough’ and hung it on the wall. He expected the same from his son Gotfred when he started in the workshop. When Gotfred sent a shipment of toys with two coats of paint instead of three, Ole told him to bring them back and do it properly. Then he instructed his son to carve the motto out for himself as a reminder of ‘how we do things around here’. That’s what a brand characteristic is: how we do things around here. The difference is that as a company grows and the number of employees expands, the company needs to formalise those values and find new ways to express them. A few decades later, Lego bricks had gone around the world and imitators were beginning to emerge. Gotfred, now in charge, found a new way to articulate that original lesson: “no one must be able to do this better than us”. It set a standard for what was now a diverse workforce across multiple locations, giving them something to aspire to and take pride in. Quality remains one of Lego’s brand characteristics, alongside imagination, creativity, learning, fun, and caring. It was Ole’s grandson, Kjeld Kirk, who formulated those six principles into the brand Lego operates by today. Make It Real Like many typical brand values, ‘quality’ is very generic. What makes it authentic is the way the idea is brought to life and personified by the family story. As you look at how to express your family through the business, look for those stories in your history that demonstrate the principles. Identify iconic moments that demonstrate ‘how we do things around here’, or when key lessons were learned. A story will anchor those principles in employees’ minds, becoming part of company lore. Make sure those stories are illustrative and not prescriptive. There should be enough flexibility for the business to interpret their values in new ways and adapt without losing integrity. Try to demonstrate those principles through the founding family in visible ways. Use reminders to keep those characteristics in mind – your own equivalent of carving them and hanging them on the wall. Keep running your processes and business decisions past that brand framework to make sure that you are living up to what you think is important. Developing an internal brand for a family business takes time and investment, but it can be an inspiring project. In our branding work, we’ve seen many businesses reinvigorated by the process of working out their key characteristics and embedding them in an employee brand. It can create unity, pride, and a new sense of purpose.

Some companies use their status as a family business as part of their brand, while others choose not to. What are the advantages of a family business brand? And is it something you could consider? Michael Gough explains more. 85% of all companies in Britain are family businesses – owned by one or more members of a single family. They employ half of all private-sector employees, making them a vital part of the economy. But you won’t always recognise a family firm when you see it. Foreground And Background Families Take Mary and Doug Perkins. The opticians they founded in 1984 was the first to feature a showroom, and following changes to UK regulation, the first to brand itself and advertise. Specsavers now has 1,978 stores across ten countries. It is still owned by its husband and wife founders, and all three of their children work for the company. It’s a quintessential family business, but you wouldn’t know it from the branding. Others put the family front and centre. Warburton’s have the words ‘family bakers’ in their logo. Their tagline, ‘from our family to yours’, appears in adverts and on the packaging. You can’t miss the fact that Britain’s biggest bread company is a family business. They really want their customers to know that there have been five generations of Warburton’s bakers. It’s central to their brand proposition. Why do some family businesses use it in their branding and others don’t? And what are the benefits of using the family connection? Positive Connotations Research shows that people have very positive impressions of family business, and that highlighting family ownership can be a valuable aspect of a brand. People associate them with trustworthiness and social responsibility. The family connection also has connotations of quality and a focus on customers. It’s not hard to see why. ‘Family’ is a positive word in the English language. It suggests that there are real people behind a company – people who get up and go to work and care about what they do. It gives the business a human face, and that helps to build trust and rapport. Even though you are unlikely to ever meet them as a customer, there is a sense of relationship there, a friendliness and approachability. For multi-generation family businesses, there are the added benefits of longevity, family history, and expertise passed down. In some cases, such as the investment and banking services of Rothschild & Co, there are centuries of tradition to draw on. The value of that heritage is incalculable, provided it can be successfully communicated. Staying true to tradition and adapting to changing markets is an ongoing balancing act for older firms. Plenty of family businesses have faltered by failing to stay relevant, and the strength of longevity became a weakness. That’s one of the reasons we recommend brand reviews and audience surveys from time to time. Emphasise With Care Building a successful brand takes strategy and application. There’s nothing automatic about sticking ‘a family business’ on your letterhead. Neither do you need to roll out the founding family all the time. There’s a balance to strike, incorporating the family into the way that you talk about the business, highlighting it when it’s helpful, and making it part of the origin story. An outside perspective will help to get this balance right, and as a branding agency a large part of what we do is helping clients to focus in on their strengths and distinctives. The family and its story may be one of those things. If you’re a family business, your customers may value that about you. It could help to build a connection with new customers, giving them a sense of who you are and what you stand for. It’s an advantage that you might not be tapping into at the moment. Could you be doing more to highlight it? A good first step would be to research it with your audiences. We ran a survey as part of our work on rebranding the property developer Thornsett. We discovered that their clients and investors really valued the company’s family bond, something the directors had assumed was irrelevant. You don’t know until you ask. About the Author - Michael Gough is the Strategy Director and co-founder of the brand and design agency Sparks Studio. He helps established businesses with rich histories and complexity to re-establish their relevance, to connect with changing audiences and express what matters now. He also hosts the podcast Why It Matters, a series of conversations with leaders who are passionate about something that is at risk of being overlooked.

Oxenwood was established in 2014 by Charlie Alexander, a former corporate lawyer with a passion for design, not far from the family home on the Wiltshire/Hampshire borders. After the family moved from London to Wiltshire, Charlie spent over two years looking in vain for an original outdoor table that would sit perfectly at the heart of their newly designed garden. There was simply nothing available that was original, robust, low maintenance and sensibly priced. Charlie realised that the choice of original luxury garden furniture available to customers was limited and, so, Oxenwood was born. Oxenwood is a brand with Charlie’s family at the heart of it and with the support of Charlie’s wife, Camilla, he focused on developing a range of original, durable and robust furniture. Charlie wanted to create furniture which, whilst elegant and functional, would provide a focal point of its own in the garden. The range firstly focused on outdoor furniture, then expanded quickly into indoor furniture and now extends to Oxenwood’s outdoor kitchens. Paul Andrews spoke to Oxenwood’s founder Charlie Alexander to find out more about his family business journey. When was the business founded? Oxenwood was founded in 2014 in Andover. Tell me a little about the history of the business and why it was started? I had been a successful City lawyer for 25 years and wanted to find a second career that was markedly different from my legal career; one that would use and test different skill sets. My wife Camilla and I were on holiday in France and one evening at dusk we were in a hotel garden with beautiful outdoor furniture and it struck me that British outdoor furniture was generally one dimensional and the seed was sown. After a detailed research process I identified a gap in the outdoor furniture market and Oxenwood was born; although at that point the hard work really began! Are there any other family members working in the business? My wife, Camilla, is a highly successful lawyer (and is still lawyering). We have four children who are at various stages of education, however, they often work in the business during their school/university holidays and always enjoy working The Chelsea Flower Show! What was your journey into the family business and what do you do now? Although my legal career did train me in some essential skill sets such as attention to detail and marketing, Oxenwood was a journey into the unknown but it was critical to me that Oxenwood remained a family company where the business’ ethos and priorities could be reflective of the family’s values and priorities. I have been involved in every aspect of the business so that I can understand the whole business from top to bottom, however, now that the business is semi-mature, I am 90% office based and dealing with clients, which is the best bit. What values are important to the family and the business? Doing the right thing not the expedient thing. Exceptional client service. Sustainability – we are constantly looking at our processes to see how we can improve our sustainability. Giving something back – we support Rewilding Britain and are a member of 1%for the Planet. As a family business creating a business with an appropriate value system is simpler than a large law firm! Do you build the family ownership into the marketing and brand narrative and if so, how? Yes we see family ownership as central to the Oxenwood brand and story. Family is central to our website and our digital media presence. Importantly, we are not and do not plan to be a large business; our objective is to grow but within parameters so we can retain the benefits of being a personable and flexible business making wonderful furniture. What do you think makes working in a family business special? Being able to forge a business which is truly reflective of the family’s values and one in which the whole family is involved/interested. Have you taken any particular steps to help protect the business for the future? The business is 100% owned by the family – succession planning is for the future! What advice would you give to anyone in the next generation considering joining their family firm? Having a family business is more than a job, it is 24/7 and 365 – the buck always stops with you. Being open to ideas from all members of the family no matter how young and to take care of family relationships – you cannot treat them as a business relationship – it is family which always takes priority. Lastly, listening. Visit their website here to find out more

In a post-pandemic world, many new opportunities and challenges lie ahead for family-owned businesses and business families. Recent research conducted by the STEP Project Global Consortium in collaboration with KPMG Private Enterprise “Mastering a Comeback: How family businesses are triumphing over COVID-19” highlighted the unique characteristics and competitive advantages of family businesses, and how those have put them at the forefront of economic recovery around the world. Not the least of these unique characteristics is the powerful impact of multi-generational family involvement. There is no question that COVID-19 presented historic social, environmental and financial challenges and opportunities. And in our research, we found that businesses with multiple generations in the firm were 45 percent more likely to implement a business transformation strategy than single-generation family firms. As family members across the generations came together to deal with swiftly accelerating challenges and opportunities, there was a realization that the transformation of the business itself was needed. It has been my experience that this has opened important conversations within families to ensure that the right leadership is in place to deal with what will likely continue to be a volatile, complex and ambiguous business and social environment for the foreseeable future. Several trends that were an outcome of the pandemic are not likely to abate: digital transformation and the adoption of new technology; streamlined operating practices; rapidly increasing attention to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues; and greater appreciation for the influence and decision-making power of the customer and the need to find better ways to connect with customers and suppliers. Without question, the pandemic has been transformative. And I believe it has provided an exceptional opportunity to leverage family business-style relationships to transform the current business model and guide the family and the business forward for even greater competitive advantage. Who will navigate the transformation? Throughout the months of the pandemic, I experienced many family businesses that worked collaboratively across multiple generations of the family to make change happen – and to do it with speed. Not only did younger members of the family search for better answers and uncover new opportunities, they also used their influence to encourage a whole new approach for tackling the reality of the changes and leading the business in new directions. As days and months went by, it became increasingly evident that many younger-generation family members have the progressive ideas that are going to be important and relevant to respond successfully to a continued acceleration in market changes. What mechanisms will need to be in place to recognize the trends and opportunities as they arise and keep bringing fresh ideas to the surface? Increasingly, the answer to this question is leading to critical (and sometimes challenging) conversations among families about the need for a new leadership approach. What’s on the transformation agenda? In recent conversations with business families, many are closely examining the efficiency of their operating processes, looking for ways to access new market channels, and searching for better ways to connect with customers and suppliers to create a sustainable future. As their focus on addressing environmental, social and governance issues intensifies, they are making important decisions about the most critical aspects of their ESG strategy and the associated investment priorities – from ensuring an ethical supply chain, to de-carbonization, access to sustainable finance or satisfying customer choice. I believe that family businesses will continue to outperform others by adopting specific leadership styles and approaches that continuously reinvigorate their firms. Increasing the diversity of decision-making within the family, creating innovative solutions, leveraging the power of digital technology and getting on the front foot of the ESG agenda, will not only strengthen the financial performance of their businesses, but satisfy the non-financial goals of the family as well.

A new generation of family shareholders is advocating a more proactive approach to corporate social responsibility (CSR), in particular by pushing their companies to adopt a raison d’être. This requires an alignment of visions across the company. Professor Miruna Radu-Lefebvre of Audencia explores the challenges involved in this process. Faced with increasing demands from consumers and civil society, companies have realised that they need to take a more proactive approach to corporate responsibility. In fact, many family businesses have taken active steps to commit to building a sustainable future and making CSR part of their DNA. With a model favouring responsible ownership and long-term performance, these family businesses are concerned about the environment, their employees, and their customers. And now, the arrival of new generations of younger family shareholders is accelerating this process. “The new generations of family business shareholders are concerned about preserving the identity of the business”, says Johan Gaulin, EY partner in charge of the family business market in France. “This new generation is clearly pushing to accelerate the transformation of family businesses in terms of social responsibility.” Among other things, they are seeking to reduce their business’ impact on the environment and enhance the wellbeing of their employees. They also want to promote diversity and strengthen ties with their clients. This new breed of shareholders is also exploring new ways of working as well as new governance styles. This underlying trend is in line with the notion of long-term value, which will be the challenge of the years to come. Raison D’être And Intergenerational Dialogue A growing number of companies are mobilising to find the unifying elements of strategy, business, and sustainable development, under the demanding eye of these young family business shareholders. Unsurprisingly, the raison d’être appears to be the backbone that gives meaning and strength to the two pillars of the company – the executive board and the shareholders. Working on a project, a mission or a vision is essential to make tangible and intangible capital grow and pass it on to the next generation. Family businesses and entrepreneurs questioning their contribution to the world are at the heart of the discourse. The definition of a family business’ raison d’être requires a real dialogue between parties, to ensure that it is more than just rhetoric. Without unity and an aligned vision among family business shareholders, a company runs the risk of ending up with a rather disappointing raison d’être, which could even block future developments and growth. This alignment is all the more necessary if the raison d’être is written into the Articles of Association of the Company, as it then acts as a strategic filter that guides the decisions of the Board of Directors. The decision to include the raison d’être in the company’s Articles of Association must therefore be carefully considered to ensure that the family’s vision and the company’s strategy are aligned and that the necessary resources will be made available. Becoming A Mission-Driven Company? Some large family businesses have gone even further by becoming ‘mission-oriented’ companies. Nowadays, companies can change their corporate purpose by adding a raison d’être – the formulation of their mission as well as quantified objectives and monitoring indicators. Even though there is not yet much hindsight on this, family groups such as Yves Rocher have taken the plunge. Their leaders are pioneers in this field and have taken a significant step forward in the history of their family businesses. In a few years’ time, we will be able to assess the effects of the application of this status on the durability of family businesses and on the success of the intergenerational transmission of these businesses.

The Boath House is a luxury country house, widely renowned for its style, quality and fine cuisine. This award winning house and gardens with café restaurant and shop is nestled on the Moray Firth coast in the majestic Scottish Highlands. This beautiful historic Regency House has been in the Matheson family since the early 1990’s. The house is set in 22 acres of stunning scenery with ornamental lake, streams, parkland and walled gardens. Paul Andrews spoke to Wendy Matheson to find out more. When was the business founded? We purchased the house as a derelict building in 1992 and partially opened in 1996. What does it do? We are a 9 bedroom boutique hotel with a Georgian dining Room and garden restaurant with a small curated gift shop. We have over 16 acres of gardens, woodland, lake and streams. We also run a small b&b business from our own home and I run a garden design business. Tell me a little about the history of the business? It took around 10 years to make money. We reinvested in the business every year and we have gained a reputation for fine dining and gained four rosettes and a Michelin star for 12 years. Predicting a change in customer demand for more casual dining and a business need to help pay for the upkeep of the gardens we built a garden restaurant in 2018. This has been extremely popular and helped with gaining a more local clientele which proved to be invaluable during the pandemic. Are there any other family members working in the business? One of our sons has been GM for the past 9 years but has taken a sabbatical to take a course for a year. Our daughter has been working for us throughout her teens and all through university. Our other son has been involved in various photographic projects for us. How important was the business in your life as you grew up? All the children have grown up living in the hotel and earning money working in the various departments, mostly gardening; waiting; KP and housekeeping. We built a new family home at the bottom of the grounds 7 years ago. The kids are now in their late 20’s and 30’s. What has helped your firm stand the test of time? We took this project on with passion and vision and are so happy that this has rubbed off on the next generation. What values are important to the family and the business? Integrity, honesty and hard work. Do you build the family ownership into the marketing and brand narrative and if so, how? Yes we do, we market ourselves as a family run business. What do you think makes working in a family business special? Total trust and dependability and you have control. The fact that family will go the extra mile when necessary. It’s also good for them to learn resilience and how to adapt when necessary too. Are there any disadvantages associated with working in a family business? Not a disadvantage as such but you do have to make sure that the rest of the team feel totally included and valued. What advice would you give to anyone in the next generation considering joining their family firm? Prepare to be 100% committed. If you could talk to your younger self before you joined the business, what would you say? All the sleepless nights and worry will be worth it! Don and I have two catch phrases we have used on numerous occasions: The first is “Let’s not and say we did “ which pertains to the day I asked him to turn the car around and have a look at the mansion house for sale written on a handmade board 30 years ago. The other is “Wendy, you have no idea how much work that is” which is what Don says every time I come up with another idea! Regrets? Perhaps to have made a little more time for the children when they were all younger. The younger children used to spend a lot of time either sat on a tractor with the groundsman or in the kitchen with the chef. They do seem to have good memories of it all though! If you could sum up the family business in three words, what would they be? Solidarity, Trust, Pride Find out more about this beautiful destination by visiting their website here

Lindores Abbey Distillery has been developed on a special site of historic interest. Perhaps the most important and historic event ever witnessed at Lindores Abbey was the meeting there in 1306 of three puissant knights, Sir Gilbert Hay of Errol, Sir Neil Campbell of Lochaw, and Sir Alexander Seton. It was at the Abbey that they undertook the sealing before the high altar of the vow they made to ”defend the King Robert Bruce and his crown to the last of their blood and fortunes.” These Knights were some of the Bruce’s staunchest friends and they were all well rewarded for their loyalty by the King when he took power. Lindores Abbey Distillery respectfully references the past in the way that it has been restored into the business that it has become today. Paul Andrews spoke to Drew McKenzie-Smith, founder and Managing Director to find out more. When was the business founded? The Lindores Distilling Co. Ltd was founded in 2013 (but there is a history of distilling here that dates back to 1494) What does it do? We are a Scotch whisky distillery with an historical visitor attraction and brand home. Tell me a little about the history of the business and the location itself? Lindores Abbey was founded in 1191 by David, Earl of Huntingdon and populated by Tironensian Monks from Thiron in France. The Abbey has a rich and varied history but most importantly it was what happened in 1494 that leads directly to where we are today. The Exchequer roll (the Royal accounts) of 1494 record ‘To Friar John Cor, VIII bolls of malt wherewith to make Aqua Vitae for the King’, this is the earliest written evidence of whisky production in Scotland and Friar John Cor was a monk of Lindores Abbey. We were totally unaware of this until 2001 when a chap knocked on the front door and asked my Father if he could take a walk around the Abbey ruins. This had never really happened before and my Father said to go ahead and thought no more of it. Then several months later a lovely hardback book called ‘Scotland and its whiskies’ arrived in the post and the author (Michael Jackson, the leading whisky writer of his day) had written on the inside, ‘Dear Ken, many thanks, turn to page 127.’ On that page was a lovely photograph of the Abbey and the chapter was entitled ‘For the whisky-lover it is a pilgrimage’ and then goes on to record him walking amongst the ruins saying a silent but happy prayer of thanks to Friar John Cor’, so that is what ignited my desire to celebrate that historic event in 1494 by establishing a distillery on the site of whisky’s birthplace. Are there any other family members working in the business? Currently there is myself, Helen (wife), elder daughter Poppy who does our PR, brother Robbie who helps Brother-in-Law Ross do the gardening and Ross’s wife Jane (my Sister) is our membership manager and her daughter (my niece) Charley is our bee keeper and waitress! How important is family to you and how is that incorporated into the business? Having sadly lost my Mother, Father and elder brother Grant my family is very important to me and we are very much a ‘family’ business and it means a lot to me that by starting the distillery we can keep the farm in the family for future generations. What was your journey into the family business and what is your role now? My personal ‘Lindores’ journey really began 20+ years ago with the arrival of the aforementioned book by Michael Jackson. I had always wanted to find a way to make Lindores pay and to learn you have the spiritual home of Scotch whisky in your back garden seemed too good an opportunity to pass up! However twenty years ago the whisky business wasn’t in a good place so seeking any kind of investment was an uphill struggle, plenty of enthusiasm, support and advice but no actual cash so after a couple of years trying I decided that I needed to get back to the day job, which back then was running luxury exclusive use properties with Helen where she was the boss and I was the chef but the dream of building a distillery never really left me. Then around seven years ago I took a phone call from an old friend in the industry who told me that new distilleries were popping up all over the place and in his (very qualified) opinion the one place there should be one was at Lindores, so after the call I thought ‘Carpe Diem and re-ignited the project and secured a £5K grant from Fife Business Gateway towards a £10K feasibility study. Fast forward and I am now the founder and MD of the Lindores Distilling Co sitting in my office looking out of the window at the state of the art Lindores Abbey whisky distillery! What have been the biggest challenges to date? There have been many hurdles, in fact straight after the phone call mentioned above I went online to check I still had the trademarks and I’d let ‘Lindores’ lapse so renewed it only to get a letter of objection from ‘Lindt’ who make the golden ‘Lindor’ chocolate bunnies. They objected that the two names were too similar and were both luxury products. I knew I couldn’t go head to head with a multinational so I went back to them saying that the Abbey was built by the brother of the King etc and after a lot of calls I managed to get them to withdraw their objection as long as I (legally) promised not to make chocolates with Lindores whisky in them, which was an easy promise to make. The build was relatively straightforward though we had to carry out a lot of archaeology which actually threw up some very interesting finds such as Abbey walls that hadn’t been seen for over 500 years and most importantly we uncovered what is believed to be an original whisky still, a clay bowl that has traces of carbon and barley, we’ve kept it (physically) under wraps whilst we work out how best to preserve it whilst also making it viewable to the public, a big challenge indeed. But by far the biggest challenges have been the dual effects of Covid (unavoidable) and Brexit (avoidable). We actually navigated our way through the former OK but Brexit has caused many issues and now the supply chains for glass, cardboard etc are having serious knock-on effects for us and the rest of the industry. What values are important to the family and the business? We treat our 40 staff members like family and we also have an extended membership of almost 1500 members that are part of the wider ‘Lindores’ community. I believe the most important thing is to treat people as you would like to be treated yourself so we like to think we are good employers with very high staff retention and glowing reviews in our visitors book which have resulted in our visitor centre being awarded 5 stars and given a tripadvisor travellers choice award, placing us in the top 10% of worldwide visitor attractions. Do you build the family ownership into the marketing and brand narrative and if so, how? Absolutely! Its one of the things that separates us from many of the larger distilleries. Our narrative is genuine in that my Great Grandfather bought the abbey and our tours are as much about the ‘story’ and the history as they are about actual whisky production. My name is on every bottle so its hard to avoid but also, very importantly, we set up the ‘Lindores Preservation Society’ whereby a percentage of proceeds from bottle sales goes in to the actual physical preservation of the Abbey ruins with a view to keeping them intact for future generations. What do you think makes working in a family business special? Helen and I have worked together for about twenty years and its been great. There may have been ‘moments’ along the way but its great to bounce ideas off each other and I do think we make a great team, the only downside is that sometimes it’s hard to switch off and talk about things other than the business! It does become all consuming and I think in the past the kids got fed up that every trip would include a trip to yet another distillery, all in the name of research! Are there any disadvantages associated with working in a family business? I think none thing is that it is harder to tell a family member off at work than it is for a normal employee as its more personal, I think for me that’s the only downside. Have you taken any particular steps in terms of governance to help protect the business for the future? Not in a legal sense just yet, we are thinking of succession planning though and there is a possibility our elder daughter may take up the reigns in a few years time but she’s happy in London just now and not quite ready for the bright lights of Newburgh! As a relatively new family business, what do you see for the business in the future? As a business we are still in the foothills with our first whisky only being released a few months ago. It has done extremely well and has garnered great reviews so we are doing something right. We are planning to build three more warehouses and we can up production from 250K litres per annum to around 400K with some capex and an increase in staffing levels and that’s the size I would like us to grow to, bigger than that and the whole place would change, that may happen one day and it would be great, but for me its very important to retain the integrity of a small family business. What advice would you give to anyone in the next generation considering starting a family firm? If you feel it can work for you and your family then I would go for it. There are so many advantages BUT as I mentioned earlier there is sometimes an issue that sometimes there will be fall outs, as there is in any business, and you must keep business and your family life separate as I have heard of some monumental fall outs that affect both the company and the wider family. If you could talk to your younger self before you joined the business, what would you say? I would say that ‘Everything will be ok.’ Whilst I had a career in hospitality I did drift through my twenties so possibly the distillery project was always meant to happen, it certainly gave me the focus I needed to follow my dream. If you could sum up the family business in three words, what would they be? Work and Play! Find out more by visiting their website here

Hoggs of Fife first began making hand welted country footwear in 1888 in Strathmiglo, Fife and have gradually built an excellent reputation across the Fieldsports and Farming fraternity for producing good quality, hard wearing products that can withstand the elements and be comfortable and hard wearing throughout the working day. Still owned and managed by the Hogg family and based within the Kingdom of Fife, Scotland, Hoggs of Fife remain true to their craftsman founder, offering hand-made leather footwear today as well as handmade rubber boots and a complete offer of quality country clothing and accessories to provide comfort, style and protection from the elements to today’s Country enthusiasts. During our recent Scottish Family Business Road Trip which saw us in Fife, it would have been remiss not to pop in to visit their two strong family businesses. So after our recent feature on the 134 year old Hoggs of Fife brand it was good to take the opportunity to take a look at the two ‘Fife Country’ retail shops, while we were in the area. Our first visit was to their historic building in Strathmiglo. This is the same site from which Mr Hogg sold his first pair of ‘Fife Farm Boots’ from, back in 1888. It’s incredible to think that the business has thrived from this historic location throughout 134 years, albeit in different guises. It does help to explain the Aladdin’s Cave nature of the store layout, though as the retail space has expanded over the years. It was also great to see the historical reference point to the brand that has grown so successfully and also to see loyalty to other family business brands that were on sale too. Our second destination was equally as impressive and very much a new site for this fascinating family business. Fife Country have just opened a concession in the lovely Caulders Garden Centre, in Cupar and what an impressive space it is. Neatly laid out and integral to the garden centre is an impressive, more uniform space in contrast to the eclectic nature of its sister store. Fife Country Cupar has an excellent range of outdoor and lifestyle products that are very well presented and in truth, its difficult to resist temptation because of the excellent range on offer. Family values remain at the heart of the business which continues to focus on delivering quality products and value for money. The business continues to innovate, introducing new ranges to appeal to a growing audience with strong heritage links too. Loyalty is evident with plenty of employees who have been around for many years and there is an eye on the future too. The outlet in the garden centre is a new experience and one that may well be rolled out more broadly going forward. A family business with a real nod to the past but recognising the need for continued evolution, innovation and an eye on the future too.