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SECTOR REPORTROUND TABLE – FAMILY BUSINESSES

How do the dynamics of a family business work? Do you have the formal systems used by other businesses, or more casual ones? Helen Scott I’m not actually family

– I joined this second-generation business 27 years ago. It was in danger of being a company run for the family, rather than the business. For us the decision-making process is a compromise between the formal and informal.

Sophie Howe My mum started our business in 1981, sold it in 2002 and I bought it back in 2007 as the major shareholder, with my husband joining as technical director. We have structured quarterly board meetings, and it’s important to document these, but there is also a more informal approach that lets us respond to opportunities and unexpected issues. Being a family business allows a greater degree of fl exibility in how we respond.

Caroline Bateman Decision-making for us starts over breakfast, when we get to work we prioritise. If there are any discussions we all have our say. We don’t really bother with formal meetings – we see enough of each other as it is without having to sit around a boardroom table.

Matthew Daines Most of our day-to-day management is based on informal chats with my younger brother. But we do bring together all our experiences over the years

and put them together in a formal forecast, document them and make sure that we both know exactly the direction we’re going. And we do have formals division of roles, so I take on operational issues, while my brother handles the technical side, such as website design.

Robin Conway Most of our meetings and decisions among the three di-rectors – we’re brothers – are made over a meal, in a restaurant or at home, although we do have formal meetings with senior management. I come up with the schemes, and then my brothers ask lots of ques-tions, and we try to agree. We come up with an informal consensus, and it might be helped because we are looking at buying a pub.

Mark Esho I’ll often go to a meet-ing with the staff, and brief them, and the fi rst my wife and partner Diana hears about it is when I say it happened yesterday. We don’t

What makes family businesses special, in the way the owners work with each, their staff and other companies?

MATTHEW DAINESdirector, lettingaproperty.com

HELEN SCOTTmanaging director, AV Danzer

MARK ESHOmanaging director, Easy Internet Solutions

KITH, KIN AND COMMERCE“We see enough of each other without having to sit around a boardroom table.”CAROLINE BATEMAN

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22 insider JUNE 2016

ROUND TABLE – FAMILY BUSINESSES

have a formal process – we have discussions as and when. It can seem chaotic, but after 16 years we understand each other and it works.

Diana Esho There is a perception that family companies don’t take business as seriously as others, but even though our process may not be as formal we’re deadly earnest about it.

Clive Batchelor During any family event I go to, business dominates the conversation. Is there ever a line of delineation between your private life and the company?

Rebecca Muldoon When I start-ed working with my dad I never called him dad. It looked odd from the outside but I wanted to prove myself and that I was there on my own merits. I think it’s good that people see us as both a family and a business unit, and that we have a relationship based on trust, and that we will deliver based on that trust. We live and breathe it: when I go home my dad can’t help but ask “did you do it? How was it?” It means customers and staff know that for us the business doesn’t end at 5.30pm.

How much does the viewpoint of a family business differ from that of an entrepreneur?Mark Esho Up to about three years

my viewpoint was that of the entrepreneur, it was my vision and I wanted to dominate everything. It’s not until recently that I’ve realised it need to be more joint decisions, more consultative, instead of me being gung-ho, particularly as our son has joined us.

Robin Conway If someone has an idea they’ll put it to the three of us, we’ll talk about it and then come to an agreement. But we have defined roles: Andy handles operational

issues, I do the procedures and implementation, and our other brother Chris is in the field working with the engineers. Having those defined roles gives us comfort that we know what we are doing. Ego doesn’t come into the running of the business at all. We talk all the time about the challenges and opportuni-ties, keeping each other updated, so no one feels disconnected.

Does the ethos of being a family business mean including staff? Are your employees part of the family?Josie Morris Communication is

so important. My mum set up our business, and my stepdad and sister are in it too. But it’s more than just talking to each other – we commu-nicate with the staff as much as we can, letting them know how we’re working together.

Daines This issue of trust is so important: my brother is like my right arm, and if he were to insist that we did something I’d probably go along with it, even with reservations, because of that trust. Corporations tend to be a bit more dictatorial in their management style – “this has to be done”. But in a family business there’s a cohesive view that says “I trust you on this, let’s give it a go because you’re kin”.

Scott Three of us run the business – me and the two brothers based in Manchester, Nottingham and Essex. So we have to sit down for off-site discussions where we can frank about what’s happening. But the ethos of treating our staff properly is important, of being fair and hon-est, and keeping them included with meetings, phone calls, Face-book, so they work with us.

Dani Saveker My family business was 106 years old before we had to

CLIVE BATCHELORsenior manager, Brown Shipley

SOPHIE HOWEmanaging director, Comtec Translations

CAROLINE BATEMANowner, Minuteman Press

JOSIE MORRISsales and marketing director, Woolcool

DANI SAVEKERchief executive, Families in Business

“Having defined roles gives us comfort that we know what

we’re doing.” ROBIN CONWAY

“I’d go along with my brother, even if I had reservations, because there’s trust between us.” HELEN SCOTT

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SECTOR REPORTROUND TABLE – FAMILY BUSINESSES

close it because of the recession. Our workforce was very much family – many were related to each other, and the average service length was 17 years. But with that loyalty can come issues: succession was not confined to the boardroom, but across the company, and loyalty often meant someone who had been there for years and not moved on. It makes it difficult to innovate because people are comfortable.

Morris Our staff are part of the Woolcool family, same ethos, same standards. It’s important for them to be part of the conversation, and even if you don’t feel you have to justify a decision, you need to explain it. If the answer is “because I say so” they’ll never buy into it.

Andy Conway When we set up we took on mates from school, and as

we’ve grown we’ve taken on their younger brothers and mates. So you feel bad when you turn down a loan. We’ve moved away from handing over cash to loans on base rates, so it’s more formal. We have enough liquidity to do this, and so long as it doesn’t hit cash flow we treat as a selling point for employees.

Saveker It got to the stage where one of my relatives described our family business as a social enterprise: we were a bank to employees, taking them to counselling on sick leave. It’s amazing how many family busi-nesses will sub staff cash because they feel it’s their social responsibility

Scott We used to do that, but found we were spending a lot of time managing the lives of staff rather than the business. You do want them to feel part of the family, that you care, but there comes a point where you say “we’ve helped you out five times, I think you need a bit

of advice on managing money”.Robin Conway We’re the only private-

ly owned business in our industry, and it’s a real draw for recruitment when people see how well staff are treated: it buys loyalty. Our staff don’t see us as a faceless corporate trying to draw every last drop of blood.

Jason Chauhan When I was growing up my dad would buy egg and bacon cobs for the staff when they were working Saturday overtime. I thought it was a waste, making sure his staff were never short when we were struggling, but now I’m older and wiser I see how important those family values were.

Howe Since we bought the business back we’ve made an acquisition in London, and because we had that family culture the new people have integrated very quickly. That came from the team – off their own bat they got the London team involved, organising weekends together. The communication and culture is bringing the businesses together. They have made it work.

Chauhan We’ve kept those values but on a more formal basis, with benefits such as childcare vouchers, health cash plans, extra paternity and maternity leave, which still cre-ates that family ethos and personal relationship.

Muldoon As you grow you need to change the structure or direction of the business, and the testament as to whether you’ve got the culture right is when the workforce trusts you to do that, and get on board with you. Staff have said “yes that’s fine” as we’ve taken on new cus-tomers and structures. Even though it’s your family’s company you think “will the staff really go for this?” And although it can take a lot of touchy-feely work, it has been beneficial.

JASON CHAUHANmanaging director, JC Metalworks

REBECCA MULDOONmanaging director, Midland Conference Services

DIANA ESHOdirector, Easy Internet Solutions

ROBIN CONWAYmanaging director, ARCC Communications

ANDY CONWAYwireless project director, ARCC Communications

“We’ve kept our values formally with childcare vouchers and other benefits.” JASON CHAUHAN

“It’s important for staff to be part of the conversation and to explain decisions.” JOSIE MORRIS

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