UK business schools must do more for family business education, says IFB
A lack of focus on family business issues in UK business schools and a failure of business advisers to understand the challenges to the sector are among the factors that prevent the growth of many family firms, said the director general of the Institute for Family Business (IFB), at a world summit of academic experts today.
Speaking at IFERA 2010, the 10th Annual World Family Business Research Conference, at Lancaster University Management School, Grant Gordon praised Lancaster for its Centre for Family Business, but thought far more needed to be done to raise awareness in business schools.
Grant Gordon said: “Lancaster is a great example for the rest of the UK’s business schools to follow, but without better education to understand the challenges for family firms the sector will not achieve its potential for growth.”
He said that the IFB was now urging the new UK Government to work in partnership with trade bodies to promote and support a stronger family business sector.
Government estimates show more than 100,000 businesses in the UK may be affected by business transfer failure, either closing or becoming less effective, as a result of a failed process of succession to the next generation.
Grant Gordon said: “We are concerned that otherwise sound businesses fail due to lack of support at crucial times in their development and there needs to be a re-think on how we tackle this issue.”
As well as addressing the issue of curriculum programmes and business education the IFB has also identified to the Governement other ways to improve support and resources for the UK’s 3 million family businesses nationally.
The IFB would like to see better use of public resources, such as the Business Link website and other online tools, to give owners more information about best practice and also a better partnership between Government and the sector’s trade bodies to promote a stronger family business sector.
He added: “There is a need to find new ways of creating wealth in Britain, through entrepreurship, new business activity and encouraging the growth of existing firms.
The family business sector contributes a third of GDP and will play a vital part in this regeneration process, so this is the right time to see what more can be done to support it.”
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Notes to editors
1. The Institute for Family Business is an independent, not-for-profit, politically neutral, membership association which supports the UK family-owned business sector through Forums, Representation and Research.
2. Family firms account for 65% of private sector enterprises in the UK economy - 3 million businesses; 40% of private sector employment, providing jobs to 9.5 million people – one job in three throughout the UK; £73bn per annum in UK tax receipts.
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