
In 1919 my great grandfather JS Harbottle founded the
Federation Brewery in Newcastle. He trudged from village to village after the
First World War signing up working men's clubs and pubs to his new product (The
Fed) after he and others had become disenchanted with the then Government's exorbitant
beer tax. They brewed their own beer and it sold. By the bucket load and
tankard and pint.
Some might have called it an easy sell. Beer to thirsty
working men when the commercial alternative is overpriced but it wasn't without
its pitfalls. My great grandfather died well off but not a millionaire after
parting company with his company in the thirties and lived to see the invention
he created with his comrades grow into a multi- million pound business.
However, as it grew so did the distance between the
people who created it and its success. Family members dwindled and professional
managers honed into view. Henry Ford famously commented while in his later
years he wouldn't get a job in the organisation he founded in his youth. I
wonder if my great grandfather felt like that. I never got the chance to ask
him.
So it was with great interest that I attended "New perspectives
on the traditional North East family business model" at Newcastle
University Business School earlier this week.
It was fascinating to hear from James Timpson of Timpsons
talk of board room coups and family feuds on the way to success and wealth
generation insulating the family as a key driver as well as the realisation
from Mark Squires of Benfield Group that despite family firms taking a long
term view ensuring their strength their path can sometimes be blocked by old fashioned
values.
Sitting alongside Newcastle City Chaplain the Rev. Glyn
Evans ( a worker in the world's oldest family business) we heard from Sarah
Green of the CBI of the search for growth to stimulate the economy and how
family run concerns can be key to that process if they refuse to sit still and
stagnate.
This view was encapsulated by James Ramsbotham of the
NECC who gave a great example of
flexibility when a family company is faced with stagnation in a market that is
moving on. He described a steeple jack company replete with expert climbers who
had built up an enviable reputation but
saw their market diminishing. The second generation manager now running this
family firm decided that instead of blowing things up they would start to use their skills
base to build mobile phone masts for telecoms providers. A shift which saw
their lifeblood invigorated and their future protected.
I've often felt business was in my blood but sometimes
struggle to unblock the arteries which threaten stagnation. Some top tips from
the panel...
1) stay true to your values and the beliefs which got you
there
2) build on your core skills but always look to employ
them elsewhere for new opportunities
3) don't just hire people because you share a surname.
Challenge them to bring something to the business.
4) be prepared to stop knocking things down and start to build if
the market changes.
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