After more than 90 years of serious cleaning know-how you don’t get to where Robert Scott are today by standing still. As time has moved forward, so have their products, solutions and ways of working. That’s why they’re investing in the future of the business, improving their brand and launching new, leading cleaning products. Serious cleaning know-how from Robert Scott. Check out the video.

In this short video, family owned Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses wanted to celebrate the farmers behind their cheese and recognise all of their hard work. It was commissioned as part of Farm 24 back in 2017 and shows the dedication of goat farmers, Nicola and Matt. Without their commitment to raising a happy goat herd, Butlers wouldn’t have such a delicious goats cheese product. They deserve a gigantic pat on the back for the brilliant work they do and Butlers wanted to tell their story. So here it is, a day in the life of Nicola and Matt.

Succession planning is always on the family business agenda. However, it can be one of the hardest conversations to have because it involves people letting go and handing over responsibilities. As one of life’s inevitabilities, succession planning is always on the family business agenda. However, it can be one of the hardest conversations to have because it involves people letting go and handing over responsibilities. One of the most important things to remember is that ownership and management succession must be treated differently. Ownership succession is all about owning shares in the family firm whereas management succession raises questions about who should take over the helm. In this article, Natalie Wright, Head of Family Business at Mazars looks at the challenges around management succession and the family business and how to ensure the process is as smooth as possible. It’s important to exercise care right from the outset to select the management team that are fit for the future and not just today. Successful family firms are those that embrace change and innovate to remain relevant to their stakeholders. As a general rule, the sooner the process begins the better. Initially, the decision needs to be made whether the next generation of management should be a member of the family. If not what would be the impact on the underlying values and positioning of the family. A broad timetable also needs to be put in place, taking into account a period of transition. Ideally there will be a date to work towards that clearly states the change in leadership to all stakeholders. Each family is different, but whilst transition is a process and not always an easy one, it can, however, be broken down into a number of key steps. 1.Agree a timetable 2.Identify the skills required 3.Select the candidates 4.Provide necessary training and education 5.Select a successor 6.Engage with staff/management 7.Define performance indicators 8.Set clear governance guidelines 9.Monitor progress 10.Start again Once the timetable has been set and the business has identified the key skills required and any training needs, then the selection of candidates can begin. If you want to be keep management within the family, current leaders need to identify candidates from the next generation. This means choosing from their own children and potentially nieces and nephews, so the emotional dynamic of this selection process shouldn’t be under-estimated. In this case, independent input can be a great help. However, if non-family candidates are the preferred option then clear roles, responsibilities and incentive schemes need to be decided and put on the table to attract the right people for the roles. An advantage of having family members succeed management is that they most likely been involved in the business for a long time. In many cases though, family firms encourage their next generation to work elsewhere before returning to roles in the family firm, but problems can arise if they decide not to come back as they see their future outside the family business. Often open and honest conversations aren’t held until the succession process is formally put on the table, which can be too late. Inevitably, change at the top can lead to a period of uncertainty both internally with staff and management and externally with business partners. After the transition it is a good idea to put in place PR and relationship plans to smooth over any issues and to introduce the new leader to key customers, suppliers and contacts. It’s also important to make sure a clear set of rules for operation and interaction between the board and the family have been set. Family relationships are not always in sync with the needs of the business and these areas need to be managed appropriately. Planning helps, as does conversation, and it is always useful to get an external perspective too because many other family firms have been through similar processes and can provide a valuable source of ideas, examples and insights to ensure a successful transition. Once the transition has been implemented, regular reviews are needed and essentially the process starts all over again! Management succession is a key area for family firms to plan for and address. With people living longer, the gap between generations is increasing and the needs of businesses today are changing rapidly. With situations where the next generation is not mature enough to take on the challenges of the business there may be need to look outside the family for leaders and planning for different scenarios can help the business to plan for the future and address different scenarios too.

Morten Bennedsen, INSEAD Professor of Economics and Political Science shares some lessons from the UK’s oldest privately owned bank, which has been in the same family for more than 300 years. In family businesses, family assets are the unique and often intangible contributions that only families can bring to their firms and are essential to their identities. Long-lived family firms always need to identify and develop those unique family assets that have been sustained and enhanced by each generation of the family. These assets can take many different forms, such as the name of the firm, its reputation, the history of the family and the business, the mission and its unique business philosophy, the values that drive the family in their business dealings, and the rich network of business and political ties developed over multiple generations. A key feature of family firms – and a requirement for their sustainability – is that their contributions are linked to strategy-making. If assets are not present at the operational level, they cannot be efficiently leveraged to create a clear vision for the future. In addition, the unique assets that families deliver can enhance the identity and brand awareness of their firms in the eyes of next generation family members who may be interested in joining the family firm. Non-family employees are also motivated by the spirt of working for a firm that has a strong sense of identity and traditions. However, as these firms develop and grow over time, family assets can be lost on the growing number of family members and stakeholders, especially if no long-term planning of this special type of asset management has been initiated by the founders or developed by second- or third-generation owner-managers. More than anything, owner-managers should engage in a continuous process of re-defining their family assets in order to profitably include them at the level of firm strategy and vision. To develop long-term planning, owner-managers can focus on three key variables: Identify the critical family assets and how these can be exploited in the current business environment. Understand the extent to which family assets are transferable to the next generation, to outside managers or to new owners. Organise the leadership and management of the firm in such a way that family assets add value to the business strategy. A Rock-Solid Legacy One firm that exemplifies how these variables can work in practice is C. Hoare & Co, the oldest private bank in the United Kingdom (founded in 1672). From the day Sir Richard Hoare opened the unlimited-liability bank, depositors were attracted by the bank’s stability in a climate of uncertainty. Hundreds of similarly family-owned banks managed to survive until the turn of the 20th century, when larger limited-liability banks absorbed most of the smaller, unlimited-liability banks. Currently, eleventh generation Alexander S. Hoare is one of the bank’s eight partners. Alexander said the ambition of the Hoare family has always been to carry on doing what it does best, which is to act like ordinary employees in all areas of the bank, including credit, finance and investment. Hence, Alexander said the family have never had any desire to entertain buyout offers from more powerful companies. Family Members Are Staff Members At any given point in time, about 12 family members ranging in age from 20 to 80 are employed by the bank, but only a few of them are promoted to the level of the boardroom. At different times family members may act as employees, directors and owners. Usually, however, family members are ordinary members of staff. As the bank has provided services to many of its customers’ families for centuries, the family has never felt the need to advertise for more clients. Nevertheless the bank’s customer base has broadened over time, ranging from owners of landed estates to entrepreneurs and professional individuals, partnerships, owner-managed businesses, family offices and charities. With such a wide variety of customers, C. Hoare & Co. has developed a range of services that has evolved to keep up with changing needs: loans, foreign exchange and treasury services, wealth management, financial planning, investments, tax services and trust administration. Recently, the Hoare family moved towards professionalising the bank’s senior leadership. The current CEO is David Green, a non-family professional, who joined the firm in 2003. The current chairman of C. Hoare & Co is also a non-family professional, Sir Nicholas Macpherson. However, shares in the bank are all owned by the eight partners of the firm who are family members. With approximately 2,000 Hoare cousins in the extended family, the bank does not distribute dividends to all of them. Dividends are only distributed to the eight partners, and the dividend has not changed since 1928. As an unlimited-liability company, each of the eight partners carries unlimited liability for the bank’s business activities. “This influences our behaviour,” said Alexander. “It forces the eight partners to manage and mitigate any risks the bank could have.” By staying focused, families can optimise and enlarge the long-term value of their assets. Moreover, family control is most valuable when the family assets are strong. This article was first published on the INSEAD website and has been reproduced with their permission.

Founding and growing a business is one thing, but passing the baton is just as important. In private and family enterprises, it’s essential to think of the future first. Many small-to-medium enterprises and family businesses share a common risk – a lack of succession planning. It is easy for founders or chief executive officers to get so focused on day-to-day operations that they fail to consider future leadership. KPMG Partner Dominic Pelligana is adamant that a succession plan is vital for a sustainable business model. “Succession planning is about developing a pool of capable leaders - get people wrong and you put the business’s ability to perform at risk,” he said. In its simplest form, strategic planning involves setting a clear plan and then aligning an organisation to execute that plan. That is, it requires a plan and capability. It is also important to understand and align where the owners, the board and management believe the organisation is in its lifecycle, and the leadership style required. Only then can it have a meaningful conversation in relation to strategic planning and developing and/or acquiring the capabilities (succession planning) required to execute the plan at the board and/or management levels. What Good Strategy Looks Like Pelligana described succession as the orderly transfer of management (the CEO), control (the board) and equity (ownership) to the next generation. For company founders who have a business in their bones, he recognised that it can “take a bit of humility to step aside and let another CEO take over the business.” However, getting succession on track can actually help a founder grow their business without fear of losing control and suffering burn out. He said signs that a business is off track to succession include a lack of awareness of issues and challenges, a lack of goal alignment and trust, and inability to separate from a focus on operations to future management. In family business, another poor sign is blurring the best interests of the business with interests of the owners or family. Signs that a business is on track include awareness of the issues and challenges, having inside and outside perspectives, and strong alignment on the key issues and context. Clear plans for the transfer of management, control and ownership are essential, along with the trust and commitment to follow the plan. The key is to build a leadership team that complements the founder’s entrepreneurial strengths, along with professional management capabilities, Pelligana said. Boards need to be active in this process, helping to align activities to the future vision. An Inside Perspective Succession in family business can be unique due to the competing expectations of the founders and subsequent generations. “People say it’s the third generation [that lets a family business down], but I think the first generation hangs on too long,” he said. Pelligana said the first generation of family business is generally “all about survival,” the second is usually about establishing professional management systems, and the third is often about financial strategy. “How do we allocate capital - are we all in?” he said. Pellagina spoke to Claire Mackay and Tim Mackay, siblings who are Principals of Sydney-based family business, Qantum Financial. Their father, Bill Mackay, set it up in 1994 and is now the Chairman. Fortunately for succession purposes, Claire and Tim shared their father’s passion for financial management, but Bill did not immediately grant them a place in the company. “He [Bill] wouldn’t let us in the business until we had worked elsewhere – he wanted us to make our mistakes elsewhere,” said Tim Mackay. They said succession has been a key focus for the family and they have “everything in writing” in regard to future ownership. However, they regularly revisit the plan to ensure their goals remain aligned. The siblings commented that they didn’t want a succession plan that “relied on an 11 year old to run the company,” recognising that the third generation may not be inclined to take on the business. “It is about embracing the legacy – but taking it forward,” they agreed. About the Author - Dominic Pelligana is a Partner with KPMG Australia and a member of thefamily business team. This article was first published on their website and eproduced with their permission.

Giant Eagle supermarkets have proudly served their customers for more than 80 years. Find out more about the history of Giant Eagle and how their foundation of passion, hard work, innovative mindset and competitive spirit helped them become a grocery store that has continued to demonstrate the values of family and community for 4 generations. Giant Eagle serves more than five million customers annually through nearly 400 retail locations in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland. Giant Eagle is based in Pittsburgh, PA. A great insight into a great family business.

Did you know that less than 3% of family-owned businesses make it to the fourth generation? As a fourth-generation, family-owned business, Warwick Publishing are proud to say they’re part of that 3%. But now they’ve actually made it to the fifth as one of their newest employees, and the fifth generation in the Warwick family business is Alex Paschal. But first, the family history. Before we fully introduce you to Alex, first we’d like to give you a brief run-down on the family lineage. First up is Lina Paschal. Lina purchased the company, which was a newspaper publisher (The Valley Chronicle), from her brother-in law, Albert Hall, in 1903. In 1926, Lina stepped down and her nephew, Paul Paschal, took over. It was under Paul’s leadership that the company started producing calendars with logos as a means of using the presses when not printing papers. It was also during this time, in 1926, when they officially became Warwick Publishing Company. At the end of WWII, Don and John Paschal took the reins of the company. Between 1977 and 1999, Rob and Jim Paschal (Don’s sons) purchased the company. The original newspaper operation was sold in 1989, at which time the business focused fully on promotional products. Which brings us nicely to the next generation, the fifth generation, Alex. And trust us when we say Alex worked hard to get to where he is with the family business. Not just handed to him: what it took for Alex to prove his worth. Alex graduated from the University of Dayton (Dayton, OH) with a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and a minor in Business Administration. He then continued on at Dayton to receive his master’s degree in Business Administration shortly thereafter. During graduate school, Alex was part of a teaching team in the chemical engineering department. His major role was to help out with the senior capstone lab courses, with a specific focus on safety, proper experimental techniques, and analytical methods. As a minor role, Alex also helped students grapple technical skills in coding courses and financial skills in the senior capstone. Though this experience was not directly related to managing a business, Alex believes his experience gained from teaching safety education directly translates to maintaining safe working conditions in our plant and office. His graduate capstone was an integrated project with a local Dayton-area business, in which he and his peers spent a semester acting as a consulting group that developed an action plan for the owner as the final deliverable. Of the project, Alex says, “It was both an incredible and intense experience that taught me how to strategically plan businesses for the future without it being distilled by a classroom setting.” Professional development and learning the ropes. Though Alex officially joined the team full-time in January of 2020, that wasn’t the first time he’d worked in the family business. Throughout college, he had been working part-time, learning the ropes in as many departments as he could, including HR, die-cutting and foil stamping, as well as operating the digital presses. Throughout college, Alex attended various leadership seminars through the National Society of Leadership and Success, as well as a University of Dayton Entrepreneurial Summit called “Flyer Formation.” Between January and June of 2020, he started and finished the PPAI online education, resulting in earning an MAS (Master Advertising Specialist) certification. As Alex himself recognises, “Warwick has always been a constant in my life. Whether I was working part-time during summers or just stopping by to visit, there really hasn’t been much of a time where I haven’t been involved with the company. Being the only fifth generation member is certainly daunting, but I’m excited to finally get involved in my family’s business on a more permanent basis, especially during this crazy time we’re living through.” And, of course, we can’t leave you without a word from co-owner—and Alex’s father— fourth generation family member Rob Paschal. “Alex has a lot on his plate right now—especially given the current global environment,” says Rob, “but he has the drive, the initiative, and the passion to help us continue to grow this company.” Find out more on their website here

From the outside, the Alexander family seemed to have it all. Henry, the grandfather and family patriarch, had managed to turn a small corner store into a national chain and market leader. Not only did the business provide the next two generations a lifestyle that would have seemed unfathomable when Henry opened his first shop, but the business helped keep the family extraordinarily close. Henry’s sons all lived in close proximity, as did their children, most of whom worked for the company after graduation and spent much of their free time together. Below the surface, however, another reality existed. The tragic death of one of Henry’s children years before had been devastating to the family. It brought them even closer, but it had also led to a desire to avoid conflict at any cost. Why argue when life is short and precious? But that meant that family members were so afraid of damaging the family relationships that they were extremely reluctant to confront each other–on personal or business issues. Disagreements were quickly papered over to maintain a veneer of harmony. This came at a cost that they did not realize until much later. For most people, conflict is uncomfortable. That can be especially true in families who’ve watched family conflict tear successful businesses to pieces: Consider the Ambani brothers in India, the founders of Adidas in Germany, the Redstone family in the US, and even the fictional families of the 1980s TV show Dallas or the current HBO show Succession. What’s less often recognized is that too little conflict in a family business can have an equally destructive impact. When I discuss this with my students at Columbia Business School, where I teach a class on conflict in family businesses, it quickly becomes apparent that the impact of both too much and too little conflict on both the family and their enterprise are almost identical. In both cases, the business can suffer from limited growth, poor decision-making, a loss of competitive advantage, and, in severe cases, the sale or split of the company. Similarly, families tend to break up into factions and suffer poor relationships. The mechanisms are different, but the results are the same. Conflict is a ‘Goldilocks problem.’ Both ends of the spectrum are ultimately unsustainable–so the best place is in the middle. While Goldilocks may trigger you to think about the fairy tale with the three bears, a better insight comes from our solar system. The earth is in what astronomers refer to as a Goldilocks Zone. Much closer to the sun and it would be too hot to sustain life, much further and it would be too cold. Though the reasons differ, both extremes make life uninhabitable. Think about conflict as having two faces: external and internal. The external face of too much conflict is what we typically think of: the shouting, the screaming, the outwardly expressed anger. The internal face of too little conflict is different, it is quiet seething, an iceberg of emotions where the surface is pleasant enough, but the danger lies beneath. Between these two extremes lies a healthy middle, where difficult issues can be raised, addressed, and resolved without doing lasting damage to relationships or shared assets. The reality is that unless a family’s interests are perfectly aligned, a rare occurrence in my experience, some conflict is inevitable. Therefore, the priority is to manage it, not tolerate or eliminate it. Conflict that is not managed inevitably escalates. For families on the ‘too much’ side of the spectrum, the challenge is how to reduce the intensity of the external conflict so that constructive conversations can occur. For those families on the ‘too little’ side, they must learn how to disagree in order to release the pressure that builds up from internal conflict. At least in my experience, the ‘too little’ side of the spectrum more common in families, even though it receives less attention from the media. Most families are conditioned not to fight with each other. Ask almost anyone what matters most to them and it is their family, including the ability to spend time together to celebrate holidays, weddings, and so on. This pressure to be the perfect family that never disagrees often ends up sowing the seeds of destruction down the road. What actually constitutes excessive conflict (vs. constructive disagreement, etc.) depends on personal interpretation and varies by the culture of the family. Some families can more easily tolerate external conflict than others, and the extent to which people will stoically put aside their interests to support the common cause also varies. But here’s a three-part quiz you can use to get the conversation started about whether your family enterprise is in the Goldilocks Zone: Is there general satisfaction with the direction of the family enterprise? You may not be happy about every aspect, but if someone asked you if you were “better together than apart”, you would answer with an unequivocal yes. Are decisions about critical issues being made? You may not address every single point of disagreement, but everyone would agree that there is no “elephant in the room.” Are family relationships good enough to work and celebrate together? You don’t have to be best friends to own significant assets together. Instead, you have to be good business partners, which means you are aligned on the big issues and can enjoy each other’s company, at least most of the time. Last year, a friend forwarded me a picture he took of a can of Sierra Nevada beer. On the top of it is the line, ‘FAMILY OWNED, OPERATED & ARGUED OVER.’ I have seen many businesses brand themselves around their family ownership, but this was the first I have seen to include conflict in that description. Ken Grossman, Sierra Nevada’s founder, says, “It’s funny, but it’s the truth. We can get together and argue over what’s best for us as a company moving forward, but we all do it in good faith, knowing that everyone wants what’s best overall.” If you can say something similar about your family enterprise, there’s a good chance you have found the Goldilocks Zone of conflict. If not, you may find yourself in the same position as the Alexanders. Throughout the years, tempers would begin to flare – not because there was too much disagreement, but because important decisions were avoided rather than dealing with potential disagreement. Eventually, the family decided to sell the company rather than tackle any disagreements that would threaten to disrupt family harmony, such as how to transition the business to the third generation. Unfortunately, the issues that were unaddressed did not go away because the business was sold – historical grievances remained, with new ones emerging from those who opposed the sale. And without the business to keep them together, the family started to drift apart. Five years later, many family members looked back on the sale as a mistake. Both the business and the close relationships were now gone. No one aims to have conflict within a business – and even worse, within a family. But some conflict is actually healthy. It provides a chance to clear the air of lingering resentments, potential issues, and even find a productive process for disagreeing and still making decisions. Good conflict doesn’t have to destroy a family—managed well, it can make the bonds even stronger. First Published : 26 December 2018. HBR.org Reproduced with permission of the author.

Paul Andrews is joined by Stephen Bamfylde for an insight on building an outstanding leadership team comprising family and external talent. A significant challenge facing family businesses is knowing when and how to bring in external talent while developing internal family members. There is nuance required to find both the right skillset and the right fit for the culture and ethos of the business and it takes confidence for a business to acknowledge when a candidates might not be a good hire, based purely on the latter. For family members within the business it is important there is a clear pathway for development as well as scope for honest conversations along the way about when external hires might be needed. Saxton Bampfylde have long worked with family businesses on external appointments and their founder Stephen Bampfylde will lead a session on how he has seen this work well in partnership with talent within the family, the importance of on-boarding and how businesses can articulate their culture and approach to prospective candidates.

As part of the Stewardship Principles for Family Businesses campaign, Stewardship Asia interviewed Mr Zengoro Hoshi, the 46th generation owner of Hoshi Ryokan to uncover the insights, values and stories behind this 1300 year old family-owned inn. See the interview and appreciate the values and the heritage behind one of the oldest family businesses in the world.

Due to the global pandemic the finale of the 2020 Family Business of the Year Awards premiered on YouTube on Thursday June 25 at 7.30pm. These awards are the annual celebration of family firms organised by Family Business United to celebrate the contribution that family firms make across the UK today. Take a look at the class of 2020! The show reveals the winners of the awards in a show that was created during the ‘lockdown’ and filmed by the finalists themselves and collated into a showreel by the fantastic team at Howell Films. Watch as events unfold, winners are announced by sector and region and culminate in the crowning of the Supreme Champion Family Business of the Year for 2020.

Creed boasts an unbroken line of perfumers: father-to-son, descending and developing through seven generations. Creed is the quintessential family business. The Creeds have the unique genetic heritage of a discerning nose for scent – a centuries’ long passion for perfume. This gives the House an authenticity beyond price. This unique story began in 1760 when a pair of scented leather gloves was delivered to King George III by a new London tailoring company. Founded by James Henry Creed in the same year as the young King’s accession, the House of Creed has created fragrances for the discerning and the discriminating for over 260 years. Queen Victoria, George III’s granddaughter, appointed Creed as an official supplier to the Royal Household. Then, in 1854, under the patronage of Napoleon III and his Empress, Eugénie, the stylish leader of European fashion, the House of Creed moved its headquarters to Paris. Victoria had praised Creed only too well to her fellow Sovereigns. In newly rebuilt and glittering Second Empire Paris, Creed embellished its reputation for impeccable tailoring and for the exclusivity of its rare and limited House fragrances. The tact and discretion with which a royal, aristocratic and socially prominent clientele were handled rapidly became part of the Creed legend. Creed has created a legacy of unrivalled scents treasured by perfume connoisseurs and all admirers of quality, style and panache. Over the centuries, the Creed family has produced over 200 perfumes all testifying to a unique creative spirit that has been passed, together with a keen inherited nose, from father to son through seven generations. Today Olivier Creed, ‘Créateur Parfumeur’ and direct descendant of James Henry Creed, continues this great tradition. Accompanied by his son Erwin, Olivier travels extensively to source, research, inspect and commission the finest materials. Rose from Bulgaria, Turkey & Morocco; Italian jasmine; Florentine iris; tuberose from India; Haitian vetiver; Bourbon vanilla; Calabrian bergamot and Parma violets. These are just a few of innumerable treasures in the Creed laboratory. They are all ingredients which have been used in haute parfumerie for many centuries, even millenia. Still based in Paris, with a factory at Fontainebleau, Creed manufactures many of its own essences using a traditional infusion technique which enables Creed to maintain the superior quality and authenticity of its fragrances. The process is intricate and incredibly meticulous but Creed is driven by artistry and perfection. A timeless, modern act of creation: perfume of the past, fragrance of the future. Find out more at www.creedfragrances.co.uk