The largest companies in any survey tend to be listed companies with a very wide spread of individual and institutional shareholders.

However, this is not always so and some very large companies are family owned and controlled. Even some of the listed companies are really known for the family aspects of their business (eg Sainsbury).

In any event it is usually said that the bedrock of the economy is the family businesses of all sizes.

A recent Grant Thornton report on family businesses indicates that across Europe they are suffering from something of an identity crisis.

What is a family business seems to be more dependant on individuals' attitude than on strictly based definitions based on family ownership of a majority equity stake.

Across Europe there are contradictions in how companies classify themselves. New research into family businesses across Europe published by Grant Thornton International reveals:

Some 85 per cent of respondents describe their company as owner managed, but only 58 per cent said theirs was a family business.

68 per cent of businesses surveyed had founding families owning more than half of the equity.

One-fifth of respondents said they did not consider themselves a family business even though the family owned more than half the equity.

3.7 per cent of respondents said they worked in a family business even though there was no family ownership.

The picture varies greatly for different European countries. At one end of the scale 78 per cent of Greek responders described themselves as family businesses while, at the other end only 25% of Polish companies described themselves as family businesses.

The major countries in Europe were around 60 per cent of family businesses (eg Germany 58%, France 59% and Italy 58%), with the exception of the UK where the figure is only 50%.

Its clear that family businesses do still play a major part in the UK economy but it is relevant to note that the number of companies who regard themselves as family businesses is significantly lower here than in other major European countries.

In the future it will be interesting to see if the percentage of companies who regard themselves as family businesses fall. This could have a significant impact on how British companies are run.

It is important when one considers the ways in which the owner takes account of the potential conflict and opportunities that arise from the relationship between the family and the business.

For example, a key player in a company who feels he/she has (or should have) more influence than he/she has on paper, could be a source of major conflict within the business. There is always something of a clash between business culture and family culture and this could be even more so if key players have different views on how the culture of the company should develop.

Although culture is relatively intangible, it is vitally important. For example, consideration of its form and development is one of the central features in my own form's work with family managed companies.

As family businesses continue to be the bedrock of the local, national and European economy, it is vital that their performance continues to be solid.

Chris Wontner-Smith is a partner at Grant Thornton.

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