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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