Family businesses go beyond numbers. Most act according to family values and ethical principles, embrace responsible capitalism and positively impact their local communities. This means they are generally better positioned for long-term success when compared to non-family-owned enterprises. But recent challenges, such as the pandemic, and high inflation are leading family businesses to reconsider priorities and the future. Should we expect to see an acceleration of the transition from NowGen to NextGen? To answer this question, we invite Neil Davy and Fiona Graham of the Institute for Family Business. They also share current trends regarding family business succession, what NowGen can do to align its interests with those of the Next Gen, and what changes NextGen will bring to the family business and the UK business community.
Family businesses go beyond numbers. Most act according to family values and ethical principles, embrace responsible capitalism and positively impact their local communities. This means they are generally better positioned for long-term success when compared to non-family-owned enterprises.
But recent challenges, such as the pandemic, and high inflation are leading family businesses to reconsider priorities and the future. Should we expect to see an acceleration of the transition from NowGen to NextGen?
To answer this question, we invite Neil Davy and Fiona Graham of the Institute for Family Business. They also share current trends regarding family business succession, what NowGen can do to align its interests with those of the Next Gen, and what changes NextGen will bring to the family business and the UK business community.
Guest
Institute for Family Business Website
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
RISE Corporate Purpose Advisory
Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Fiona Graham: I think that, actually, the next-gen are thinking, "Well, what does my career look like? What do I want to do?" Working in the family business maybe gives them a sense of purpose they don't get from their current job. I think for lots of people, COVID has made them reassess. We are definitely seeing, I think, an acceleration of some of the succession
Neil Davy: Separate from the family business, the majority of them were designed with some environmental or social impact as part of the business model, not as gifting or philanthropic, it was because of the business model. If you are a new-gen and that is your next generation--
Natalie: You are listening to the Exploring Family Business podcast brought to you by Mazars. I'm your host, Natalie Wright, head of family business at Mazars UK. Having worked extensively with family businesses for a number of years, I'm keen to support this valuable sector of our society. At Mazars, we believe there is nothing more personal than a family business. Every family and every business is unique. We look forward to sharing knowledge, insights, and practical tips for those navigating the unique issues that arise from being in business with family from now on with this week's show.
Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the Exploring Family Business podcast with Mazars. There are over 5 million family-owned businesses in the UK employing around 40 million people and contributing significantly to economic growth. It's not just about the numbers, the values on which family businesses are built see them actively employing ethical practices, embracing responsible capitalism, and having a direct positive impact on their local communities.
All of this means they're generally better positioned for the long term when compared to non-family-owned enterprises, but there is an obvious difference that needs careful consideration and planning to ensure that the family businesses don't just survive, but they thrive. That's the transition between generations. Now, with so much uncertainty following the onset of the pandemic in 2020 and with inflation reaching a 40-year high, we're seeing individuals reconsider what the next stage of both business and life looks like. Do we expect to see an acceleration of the transition from now gen to next-gen today?
Today I'm delighted to be joined by two guests, both from the IFB, the Institute for Family Business. Fiona Graham is the director of external affairs and policy. Neil Davy was earlier this year appointed as the new CEO. Both have a wealth of experience in supporting the family business sector. We'll be talking through the different stages of transition and growth. Neil and Fiona, thank you for joining us today.
Neil: Thank you.
Fiona: Thank you.
Natalie: I know both of you have got lots to say on this subject, so we're going to be talking through it, and it's great to have both of you here with us. I'm used to talking one-on-one, so feel free to jump in to add any points as we're moving through things. If I could just start with some introductions, if that's okay, first of all, Neil, I will come to you because you've been appointed as CEO of the IFB earlier this year. It's still a fairly new role, although I know you've been really active in the few months that you've been there. Do you want to tell us more about the IFB, the role within the family business community, and also the role that you are playing now?
Neil: Sure. Thank you again, Natalie. I joined about three months ago, just over three months ago, and the IFB has been around for over 20 years. It's the body in the UK that represents family businesses and a whole variety of family businesses from across sectors across the UK and varying sizes and turnovers. I joined three months ago. Last year, we got a new chairman, James Wates, who's chairman of the Wates Construction Group. He and I share a very strong and common affinity for the responsible business agenda and both feel very passionately about the opportunities and the need and, I would argue, the responsibility for family businesses right now to be showing leadership.
Where we are coming in is the IFB, although we have been a membership body, is very much about helping to catalyze a movement for change amongst family businesses. We support doing that in three areas. Firstly, it's around connecting and convening members of family businesses together in a safe non-solicitous environment. That's not just the family members and shareholders, it's anyone who works in those businesses.
Secondly, challenging those businesses, but in a spirit of critical friendship and constructive provocation around any number of particular issues or topics. It could be around succession, or it could be around tax, or it could be around responsible business or ESG. The third, which is really for Fiona as well is around championing and celebrating the role of family businesses, as you've already alluded to.
I think they're the unsung heroes in many respects in terms of contribution to the economy, GDP, contribution to communities, different ethos, different values, naturally taking a more long-term view, and a core part of what we do and where Fiona leads is our advocacy work and policy work, where Fiona successfully builds up some great relationships at the highest level of government.
Natalie: Leads nicely on to you then there, Fiona. I know you've been at the IFB for around nine years now. Do you want to tell us about the role and the advocacy that you do?
Fiona: Yes. As Neil says, I head up advocacy work, which means that we do two key things. One is around directly influencing policies that will affect family businesses and trying to ensure there are better outcomes for them. Then the second is around that championing and celebrating the contribution of family firms and to try and get the recognition that they deserve, which is increasingly a bigger and bigger part of our work on that.
On that, we last year ran our first ever family business week in November, which was very successful. We had around 60 MPs visiting businesses or tweeting about it, sending us messages of support. We had video messages from the small business minister and shadow small business minister, and tweets on Family Business Friday from the chancellor are saying how fantastic family businesses were.
For us, it's really important that as we have this conversation about what the future of business looks like and what we expect well-run responsible businesses to be doing, we are recognizing all the good things that family businesses are already doing because they are in every community and everybody interacts with them probably on a daily basis, but as a sector, it's not well recognized as having a coherent voice. It's important for us that they do.
The other part is influencing policy. That's making sure that the government understands why, in relation to transitions, that business property relief is so important to these businesses and continuing to make the case for why that needs to exist. It's around lobbying directly on the corporate governance changes that have been going on a few years ago and then there could be some consultations on those, it's about talking about the impact that defines benefit pension schemes and the historic liabilities are having on the businesses.
It's a very broad range of topics that we talk about, but they are all things that particularly or exclusively affect family businesses. We go in and talk to officials, to ministers, to MPs about the impact and try and make sure that there's a better outcome for family businesses so that the business owners and managers can get on with building thriving businesses rather than focusing on constant regulatory change.
Natalie: You've raised some really important and valuable points there, actually, on the governance and tax and strategy. It's the things that you can think about in isolation, but then when you marry that up with the complex nature of a family business and how that impacts the individuals, you do need to really be aware of those points and understand the significance of how it affects you and the individual members of the family.
Fiona: Yes. I think a big part of my job is going in and educating policymakers about what modern family business looks like. I think most people who work in the civil service haven't worked in a family business. They're writing policy not properly understanding what family businesses look like and how diverse that sector is in terms of the families' makeup and then their relationship with the business. It's going in and explaining, "You might think family business is a father and a son and they pass it from one person to the next and that's nice and easy, and everybody works in the business and it's a small business, but actually, it's far more complex than that. You need to understand that."
Natalie: I guess in the same way that we talk about blended families now it's blended businesses as well, isn't it?
Fiona: Yes.
Natalie: Clearly, you're working with a real wide range of family businesses across the UK, so we can generalize some points. Certainly, what we've seen is some specific themes running through conversations with our family business in the last two years in particular. I'm interested to know from your perspective and the IFB, what are you seeing as the current trend when it comes to family business succession?
Fiona: I think COVID has changed things quite significantly. I think that there's always succession going on as different members of families reach the age where they maybe want to step away in different businesses or at different stages in their life cycle at any one time. I think COVID has really made people think about the future and what they want to do. That has made some people think, "I would like to retire." Particularly the past two years have been incredibly stressful and maybe they're thinking, "You know what? I would like to play some more golf," or "I would like to spend some more time with my grandkids." I think that it has opened up conversations within families about what the future looks like.
I think also for the next-gen, lots of them have maybe in the way that we've seen across all sectors, you've seen this great resignation, I think that actually, the next-gen are thinking, "Well, what does my career look like? What do I want to do?" Working in the family business maybe gives them a sense of purpose they don't get from their current jobs. I think for lots of people, COVID has made them reassess. We're definitely seeing, I think, an acceleration of some of the succession.
I think some of the other trends that we're seeing as well as more of a movement towards people looking at non-family management as an option and understanding that that isn't a linear process. I think there's an assumption that once it becomes a family business that's run by a non-family member, that, therefore, you'll never have a family member run it again.
It's seen as this one-way journey, and I think people are understanding, actually, "You know what? We could have a really good non-family chief exec for the next 7, 10 years," whatever it might be, "While the next generation gets to that stage in their career, where maybe they will be the right person to take over and then we could have a family person again." It's not just seen as that step that you take and you never have family involved again.
Then amongst the larger firms, the other trends that we're seeing, our firms starting to think, "Actually, we've already got non-family management, do we have family on the board?" We're seeing increasing numbers of businesses where they're saying, "You know what? We might not have a family chairman next time," or "When this next family nerd retires, we might not replace them with a family member," and reassessing, therefore, what does it mean to be a business-owning family if you're not on the board and you're not running the business? What is your relationship to the business and how do you share with those people running the business what's important to you as a family and what your values are? I think, again, that's particularly amongst the larger businesses where those conversations are happening.
Natalie: Is there anything else that you're seeing from your perspective as you've come in now, Neil, as well with regards to that succession?
Neil: One of my observations, and it picks up on something that Fiona has just alluded to when she says families reassessing, what I see is as people have come out of COVID, and irrespective if you're in a family business or not, or regardless of your circumstance, everyone in some shape or form is having to take stock and reassess. I think family businesses are no different.
I think that the pandemic, given the tragedy of how many lives were lost, and for many families with vulnerable individuals, brought home very quickly that actually things can change for the worst very, very quickly, and are we ready? I think it may have accelerated consideration around succession that perhaps might have taken a little bit longer. When you take that into context, of course, people will look to the next generation and then go, "Well, actually, how do we now engage?" I've heard a lot of people saying, "Actually, we're really thinking about it, and how do we now effectively engage the next generation in the business?" I think that opens up a whole load of questions and conversations.
In a similar way that Fiona was talking about the different trends and themes, I think what we're also seeing is people consciously recognizing that actually how they may have got engaged in the business will be very different for the generation coming through. The world, of course, is a very different place, it was always going to be, and a very unpredictable one.
Given all of the--, if I can use, probably, a poor analogy, a tsunami of sustainability trends and issues and concerns affecting all businesses and all institutions and people everywhere, and the fact that the next gens in particularly seem to have engaged very strongly in this agenda, particularly around the environment, I think that has forced into some stark contrast that businesses need to be thinking about these issues differently.
If you're a listed business, they're under pressure from investors and from customers and employees, the family business is a different model, but ultimately, those pressures still exist. I think in the context of how you effectively engage the next generation, you can't do it without thinking about, "Well, what's it like to be in their shoes?" To that point, I think what we're starting to see, it'd be interesting to get Fiona's take on this too but is a greater awareness of having a different conversation with the next-gen, not so much to understand their interests, but actually to better understand their priorities.
If I give you a couple of examples that have happened in the last few weeks. One, I was chatting to next-gen. He is in line to come into the business in some shape or form. He's a shareholder, and actually, he's also very entrepreneurial and he was starting his own business as well, so lots of things going on. He said he wants to be part of the family business, but he doesn't want to be part of that business because he sees it as a massive carbon polluter and he can't see how the business model is going to survive. While he wants to be part of the family company, it's just the nature of that particular business he doesn't want to be associated with.
He's going, "Well, if I come into the business, what do I do with it?" There's a big question there about the longevity of the business and the sustainability of the business in many ways. That's one really interesting dynamic. The other one, actually, last week. There was a next-gen, and not in the business, expected, if you like, to go into it at some point. Actually, during the conversation, what was really interesting and quite enlightening, and he was being very open and very honest about this, during the conversation, a penny dropped for him and he said, "You know what? Actually, I don't want to be in the family business." He admitted that to himself openly and publicly in front of his sister.
I think there are conversations that allow that generation to be able to be really open about it and then you can have a conversation with, well, how do you actually engage them? Actually, is it right too? I think the whole nature of those conversations may well be changing, and hopefully, changing for the better, because if we're open about those things and it opens up opportunities for product innovation, system innovation, customer innovation, all sorts of opportunities can come out of those conversations.
Whereas if you don't have them, you may argue, "Actually, will the business have a long-term future if it's not going to be sustainable?" It's a very different environment, I think, to start thinking about the needs and priorities of the next generation than we might have seen before.
Fiona: I think this generation of current leaders are probably more aware of any previous generations about the difference in the way that the future leaders communicate their expectations, their desires from what work looks like to them. I think there have been these quite small changes between generations before and there's now an awareness that there is this enormous divide in expectations and wants from the coming generation, but people don't necessarily know how to respond to it.
I think the positive is, as Neil says, people are very aware that there is this hugely different set of desires and expectations amongst the next-gen and they do want to address it and talk about it and understand it. They're maybe not fully there yet, but I think awareness is the most important first step rather than just assuming, "This is how we used to do everything, I'm going to fax you the board papers and you can have a look." They know that that's not going to work. They're all talking about, "Oh, should we be doing stuff on TikTok for our next year? Is that the way to do it? How can we engage?" It's very positive that people are aware that they do need to think very differently about it.
Neil: If you think about the whole debate about the future of work, you could look at that at any number of angles, hybrid working, but actually, mental health and wellbeing in the workplace, workplace environment, or any number of topics. I think if you talk to most next genres, they haven't got the answers, but they just want to be part of the conversation and part of designing the solution.
It's not a case of the new-gen have got the answers and trying to impose or the next-gen have got the answers and trying to impose on them, actually, I think that's where there's a really interesting and rich conversation to be had, which is where fantastic ideas for innovation come up. I think it's a really interesting opportunity by bringing those two together in an environment where they feel safe to answer these questions and ideas and concerns.
Natalie: I think it's interesting as well what you just said there with various different points about how much there's a close alignment between-- and sorry, Neil, I know you don't like using the acronym, but I will talk about ESG, but just because it's becoming more anonymized with the business now, isn't it? When we're talking about that, we're talking about responsible business, but with ESG, but then also, do those family members want to be involved or, coming back to a point you raised earlier, Fiona, is now a time to think about actually having non-family members and they might take the business in a certain direction?
Whether that's the management or the leadership at the board level, you've got to almost think about it in a much broader way now than it has been in previous generations because the world is changing at such a rapid rate.
Fiona: I think as well when it comes to next-gen engagement and whether the next-gen wants to be involved in the business, I think there's a question about what involvement means. You can be very involved in the business as a shareholder, as a member of a family council, as just part of the family. There are so many more routes to involvement in a family business than just being the boss.
I think that when it comes to engaging the next generation, it's so important to keep the door open because what you want to do at 17 or 18 is not necessarily the same as what you want to do when you reach 35 or 45. You've been out in the world and you've understood, "Well, what is important to me," and you've had those conversations.
There are so many next genres within our network or even people now running their businesses who said, "When I was 18, I didn't want to have anything to do with this. It felt like a complete burden around me. I didn't want to spend that much time with my family, the weight of expectation, everybody's thinking it was what I was going to do, I couldn't run further away from it." Then they say, "But then I started to think about it and I started to develop these skills and become more confident in what I could actually offer this business. As I started to understand it more, I thought, 'I could add real value to here and I can work with my family and I feel that pull of the emotional connection to it more."
I think it's really important not to put a deadline or a point where you say, "By 25, you're either in or you're out actually." That's not the best for the business because you are going to close off the opportunity of having some really amazing talent coming in. I think there isn't one deadline by that you can make that decision.
Natalie: Do you see that there is a reluctance from the current or the new-gen, let's say, to consider, "Let's bring in someone perhaps without the family name," allow the next-gen to go and seek experience skills elsewhere and then make that decision? Is there anything that's a barrier to that happening currently?
Fiona: I think the now gen really understands that it is very beneficial for the next-gen to go out and get outside experience and really encourage it. Actually, what I've heard from some families over the past few years is they had constitutions that said you are required to have this level of education or this amount of experience. Actually, when they talked to the next-gen, the next-gen felt that that was designed to keep them out the business.
I think, whereas they felt that they'd written something that was there to make sure that they went out and got all this great experience, the next-gen perspective was, "They're putting such a high barrier to get involved in the business. They mustn't want me." People are looking, "Again, what are their education policies in their family constitution? What does it say about getting outside experience?" because it's about that perception and maybe they hadn't thought about the way it looked to the next-gen when they wrote it.
I see a huge amount of enthusiasm from the next genres to be involved in these businesses and for themselves to go out and get experience so that they can bring in new ideas and new thinking and help the business innovate and thrive for the long term.
Neil: Actually, that goes back to your earlier point about how do we successfully engage? The example Fiona just gave could have been avoided through conversation. That interaction and dialogue and openness are really, really key. It's right what Fiona said. I've got a number of cases in the last two weeks, I've spoken to now-gen and next-gen and there is an expectation the next-gen will go and get experience outside the family business first because that is seen as such an important asset.
Fiona: In the same way that employers now increasingly have to think about their branding and how they attract the best talent and how do they make it an attractive place for people to work, that's the same for the family members. A lot of the next genres have a lot of other options. They've got a good education, they've got these great networks and this huge family legacy they can learn from and they're generally quite entrepreneurial. What is it that you're going to do to make your business attractive to them rather than them pursuing one of the many other options that they probably have?
Natalie: Great example that you gave there, actually, and it's, I guess, a testament to the fact that perception and reality can be quite different, and unless you've got those open lines of communication, sometimes it is a third-party, isn't it, coming in and giving you that space and framework to talk about it. One conversation unravels so much and you realize, "Actually, we've got the same end goal of viewpoint, but we've just got different ways of thinking about how we get there."
Neil: One concept that Fiona just touched on, which is really important is this idea of entrepreneurialism. Let's face it, if you own a family business, somewhere in the family someone was the entrepreneur that started it. Now, the second-gen may not have been the ones but the first-gen, yes. Actually, and I'm not suggesting this is representative, but it was striking that some weeks ago, I was sitting with a collection of next genres in London, many of them actually were international next genres, I would say half of them around this table, 15 people, a half of them were next generation. There was the option and the route to go into the family business.
For some of them it was expected, but half of them had set up their own businesses separate from the family business. The majority of them were designed with some environmental or social impact as part of the business model. Not as gifting or philanthropic, it was because of the business model. If you're a new-gen and that is your next generation, surely, those are assets that you would want in any candidate wanting to enter the business.
I think, again, it's just how do you tap into that entrepreneurial spirit and understanding of the current context? Because the products and services that they're designing now are the ones that are going to help build resilience into your existing business for the future. There's a massive resource there that really needs to be harnessed and is literally on your doorstep.
Natalie: Great point. We've talked in previous episodes about entrepreneurialism. Do you sometimes, if you are second-generation, let's say, you've looked at first-generation, they started the business, have what we would consider the classic traits of an entrepreneur, but if you don't see that in yourself, is that almost a barrier, but it's just finding what does an entrepreneur mean to you and how could you maybe transform the business in a different way? You don't have to repeat what has been done before and probably the business needs to do something different as well for the future?
Fiona: At our conference that we've just had, it was all-around leadership. One of the speakers was the next genre and he was talking about-- He's the second generation so that classic thing that he's not the entrepreneur. He was talking about how he had originally seen all the traits that the founder had and thought, "Well, I don't have that. That's not me." I think there was that questioning, "Am I, therefore, not the right person to run this business?" It was about, no, it's about what are my skills, what are my leadership qualities, and what am I going to build?
It's not about trying to replicate something and force yourself into holes that don't suit your skills or your personality because you're never going to do that. An entrepreneur is a very different thing from a second or a third-generation family business leader. It's about understanding what are the skills that you need for the time and what are the leadership qualities, rather than trying to artificially push yourself in the wrong direction because that doesn't benefit anybody.
Neil: Also, something you just mentioned, Natalie, links to the piece about entrepreneurism, the family businesses compared to other business forms such as private equity-backed or publicly listed, have earned the opportunity to make long-term decisions to innovate and take risks where leaders of other businesses may not have that opportunity by virtue of the ownership structure and the priorities of the current owners. Actually, that it is earned. It's not something that came by chance. It's earned. As part of that, that creates a really interesting environment for the next-gen to come in with some ideas around innovations and a safe space to try them.
That is a phenomenal kind of laboratory, a privileged place, where the next-gen comes in and they can be given a safe environment to try things. Out of that, who knows what that will mean for the future of the business. I think that's also something not to be overlooked. It's important for family businesses to recognize that they've got potentially quite a nice competitive advantage there.
Natalie: I completely agree. We often see that, actually, real, genuine value and USP, really, in a lot of family businesses is the ability to innovate and do it quickly because they're so nimble and they're able to make those decisions without, as you say, going to shareholders externally.
Fiona: I think when we talk about succession or transition, we talk a lot about the next generation, and we've been doing it today. I think that what's really important as well is for the current-gen or the senior-gen to think about what their future looks like and what role they're going to play in the business. Actually, this is another really key strength of family businesses, is that you don't lose that knowledge when somebody retires, they're still part of your family. You can still pick up the phone and say, "How do we deal with this?"
I think that really showed in COVID. Some of the businesses we were talking to said, "We've been through pandemics, we've been through world wars, we've been through all sorts of things. We've never been through this, but we know we can adapt," and it gave them that resilience. I think that in a time like now when there's this massive inflationary environment, an awful lot of people in very senior positions have never had to deal with because of their age, it's being able to have a defined role for the outgoing generation so that you can still tap into that knowledge and say to them, "How did you deal with all this kind of inflation stuff when you were running the business?" It's really important. I think that that's a key strength, but it's also a challenge to make sure that you set boundaries and it's clear what that person's role is rather than it being hazy.
Neil: That institutional knowledge, in listed companies, it's considered gold dust and it is quite often just runs through the fingers like sand, in a family business, as Fiona said, actually, it's still there on call. That's really important.
Natalie: It's interesting. Absolutely. As you said that, I was just thinking, I had a conversation with a client yesterday afternoon and we were talking about everything that's going on currently inflation markets, I guess, a lot of the turmoil that we're seeing when we turn the news on.
The first thing that he said to me was, "Natalie, I've been through this before and talking about experience, I've been in business for 45 years. Actually, the challenge is supporting the next generation because they've just gone through an MBO, supporting the next generation to understand, again, they had challenges in 2020. This is a different set, but there is a way to work through it. Actually, I've got some knowledge and experience to support you through that, but you're ultimately the decision-maker."
Thinking then about your role and the IFB, what are you doing to help members through the transition? Is there a way that you're supporting them currently? Do you have ways that you work directly with members?
Neil: I think in a number of ways, yes. If we go back to those three things we said up front, what we consistently see, and it's been one of the things from day one, which is when members of family businesses are in the same room, connected to other members of family businesses in a safe, non-solicitous environment, the ability for them to share experiences, knowledge, and bounce off ideas is absolutely phenomenal. That's not the IFB doing that, we're just creating the environment for it to happen.
I think, secondly, in that spirit of challenge, we work with other advisory firms that can be brought in. Equally, they can come to us or we can recommend other people in the network who has been through something similar. We play that role. I think in the third area, and this really speaks to Fiona's work, is how we're making sure that we're advocating around policy and regulation that creates a regulatory environment and framework for those businesses to do very well.
As we heard earlier from Fiona, in a lot of cases, those people who are designing those policies have not been in the shoes of a family business owner. It's done remotely from the outside, without any kind of understanding or empathy for the situation. I think if we can come in and help bridge that gap so that policy and regulation are much better designed to reflect the needs and priorities of family businesses, not just for themselves, but given what we were saying about the contribution of family businesses to the economy and their role in societies, that's a business model that should be supported and amplified.
The government has got a key role in helping to do that as opposed to just lumping every business form into the same bucket and thinking, "Oh, everyone behaves like a listed company." That's just not the case. If we can help directly or indirectly businesses there, of course, that's what we want to do.
Fiona: Often, when people come to the IFB, who come to one of our events or our conferences, their initial feedback is, "Oh my goodness, I'm not alone. I'm not the only one that's going through this or thinking about this." It can be quite a lonely place to lead a family business if you don't have that network of other people you can talk to. A lot of what we do is about trying to show people the questions that they don't know exist and then bring together families so that they can learn from each other and, as Neil has said, share their experiences so they can find the right path for them.
I think one of the things that were interesting from our recent conference was how many non-family people were coming and found it really useful to understand what the family's mindset is. Being a non-family person in a family business is quite a strange place to be. If you've not done it before, sometimes the way that the family makes decisions or the reasons behind some of those decisions aren't necessarily the way that you've kind of previously operated.
For non-family people, it's useful to come and hear the family stories and say, "Oh, the business I work in does that." Now I understand why when they maybe wouldn't have felt it was something they could ask about before because it felt like a family issue and maybe you were overstepping to ask the questions. It's about kind of sharing experiences so that you can learn from others.
Neil: What we're keen to do is where talk about a safe environment, but also challenging critical friendship and constructive provocation. Take the example there where we might have family business members and a non-family executive in the business, and there is this sense of, "Where are the boundaries, and are we stepping over the line?" et cetera. If there's an elephant in the room, we want to create a safe place to bring the elephant out of the corner, shine our lights on it, and then air those issues, because ultimately, it's in everyone's interests to table and work through them. By not doing that, actually, we're just creating problems for the future. I think that's where we can also help to play a key role.
Natalie: Things that you both said there, actually, are exactly the things that I've heard from members. It's the shared experience that supported peer-to-peer work as well as the ability to do it in a safe environment, but also, a confidential one, especially if you're working in a business where it is quite a lonely place to be at times and you don't always feel like you can be open about how you're feeling because you almost need to put on a front.
Neil: I think people come in and they got to feel the experience of our events is probably quite therapeutic in some way because they see they otherwise are not alone and actually there's somebody else. There's just this exchange of information almost immediately that's so open and so honest you wouldn't get anywhere else. You suddenly realize you are amongst friends and family, and that comes across very quickly.
Natalie: If I could just close with two quick-fire questions to both of you if that's okay. Could you tell me your favorite well-known family-run business and the reason why? I'll go to you first, Neil?
Neil: Well, obviously, apart from Wates-- [laughs]
Natalie: Absolutely. [laughs]
Neil: I think one of mine, actually, is Warburtons. To be honest, I didn't realize it was a family business touched on earlier. I think they've really, really, really stuck to their core purpose the whole way through, and they've done what they've done brilliantly for generations and grown as a consequence. I think they've always had the community at the center of what they do.
Bread making is a pretty core staple of a community. Getting up at 3:00 in the morning with evident ovens going and the family do that now, but the point is there is that ethos and it still feels very strong and congruent.
Natalie: Absolutely gives you that feeling, doesn't it? Whenever you see one of the adverts or you see something from them, you get that feeling of community and family spirits. The same question for you, Fiona.
Fiona: I live in Southwest London and there's an excellent ice cream business called Jefferson's. They have a branch in Balham if anybody wants to go, and they do the most amazing ice cream. I love that one. For different reasons, I'm a big fan of Pavers Shoes. Stuart Paver, who is one of the family and has been the managing director there is absolutely an example of a family business that leads with the heart and a leader who really lives an authentic values-based business. He has been traveling to take medical supplies out to Ukraine over the past few months and has been doing amazing work. I definitely encourage people to look up Stuart Paver on JustGiving to support that. I think that's a brilliant example of a family business leader who's putting his skills to good use in a societal way.
Neil: Natalie, it's a really interesting question. It's difficult to answer it because there are so many you could refer to and see different aspects of different ones. If you ask me the same question about PLCs, I could probably give one. It'd be a superficial answer, it'd be based on the brand campaign, whereas, actually, what we're talking about is something so much more deep-rooted and fundamental.
Natalie: It is. Once you start talking about the reasons why completely different, aren't they? It's not about the product, it's about the values and the feeling.
Neil: Absolutely.
Natalie: The final question. I'll come to you first, Fiona. Do you have a podcast or book recommendation that you could share for rising family business leaders?
Fiona: This is not necessarily the most insightful in terms of how to structure things and all that kind of stuff. As a very interesting read, The House of Gucci by Sara Gay- [chuckles]
Natalie: Fantastic.
Fiona: -Forden is-- I don't know if the Gucci store.
Natalie: Yes.
Fiona: It's recently been made into a film. Yes, it's an incredible story. As somebody who works with family businesses, there's a lot to make you think in there.
Natalie: Brilliant. Yes, I'm sure a lot of people have read that. I've seen the film recently as well, so the book is always better.
Fiona: [chuckles]
Neil: Well, I'm going to cheat and give two. The first one is by Professor Alex Edmans, in his book Grow the Pie. This isn't just for family businesses, but any business, really. It is that whole argument. It's not just about shareholder versus stakeholder capitalism, it's much more about actually-- This is not a finite pie they're all trying to carve up a greater share of. Actually, if we take a different approach, it's about growing that pie for everybody's benefit. It's not a binary argument. He's brilliant. You can hear him speak. He's got a lot of podcasts, and fantastic stuff. Young, very inspiring academic.
The other one actually is unrelated, but it's a book called Align by Jonathan Trevor. What's interesting about it is, particularly, these business models have been challenged, massively disrupted, and are thinking about how to, as the book suggests, realign if it's the next generation coming in with a very different idea of where the business needs to go. That isn't just about a new product or service, but it's a fundamental rethink of the organizational strategy, design, structure, capabilities, operations, and systems.
Actually, this book is probably the best one I've ever come across, which provides some thinking and a framework to help businesses through that process, this is really important, in a way that doesn't take a siloed mentality, but is about integrating that across an entire organization and from a responsible business perspective.
If an organization's trying to take on responsible business is ethos, whether it's ESG or sustainability or whatever you want to call it, that's not something you can park in a silo or a department. A responsible business is everybody's business. If you're taking on a new strategy, and it's for everybody, everyone needs to own it. This is a great book for thinking about how you might approach that and then implement it.
Natalie: Three brilliant recommendations there. Thank you both. We'll put details for those in the show notes. Any final points that you'd like to add regarding any work that the IFB is doing this year? You mentioned the family business week before, Fiona. Do you want to just tell us about that?
Fiona: Yes. We are running family business week again this year from the 21st to the 25th of November and strongly encourage all businesses to get involved and to share their stories as part of that week. We're really looking at the place and the contribution that family businesses make to their community and the place around them, how that place shapes them, and then also, how that place can be used to sell their story and their products, particularly in international markets, where their place becomes a really good part of their brand identity as well. Yes, there'll be more details coming on the Family Business Week website soon about this year's activities.
Neil: Also, just flag what we're focusing on as a team for the next six months and also working very closely with our members and board on our plans for the next few years, which will be really kicking off from January the 1st. I've put down a marker that alongside the family business week, which will be a really exciting series of events and lead up, equally looking to the new year, we've got some ambitious plans for that. I'll say watch this space.
Natalie: I'll put links to the website in the show notes, but from 21st to 25th of November, Fiona, and we can share more details of that as time progresses as well. I look forward to seeing what comes from that. Thank you both so much. I know we've covered a lot there, but great insight. I've been writing down frantically as well as we've been chatting about some brilliant points. Thank you both so much for your time today.
Fiona: You're very welcome. Thank you very much.
Neil: Thank you very much. Thank you.
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Natalie: That brings episode 5 of the third season of the Exploring Family Business podcast with Mazars to a close. If you enjoyed today's show, please subscribe to the series and leave a review on Apple Podcast. It will help us to extend our reach to the family business community. Join me on the next episode when I'll be speaking with Andy Howarth, the second generation of Howarth's UK.
Gavin will share the story of his successful transition, which has led to him being the managing director and majority shareholder of the business. It wasn't without its challenges. Gavin will talk about the relationship that he's built with his father and how they're both now pursuing their own interests. I look forward to sharing more with you then. For now, thank you for listening.
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