Businesses run by families are confident about their future prospects, but succession planning is a taboo subject, research suggests.

Businesses run by families are confident about their future prospects, but succession planning is a taboo subject, research suggests.

Some 60 per cent of family businesses surveyed by professional services firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) intend to expand their business over the coming 12 months.

However, nearly half of the 1,600 businesses questioned have no succession plan in place. Of those that do, only 50 per cent have decided who will take the top job.

Norbert Winkeljohann, a member of PwC’s Network Leadership Team, says, ‘Companies that survive a change of ownership are usually those that have developed a good plan, outlining how the succession will take place and what criteria will be used to judge when the successor is ready to take over the reins.’

Less than a third of respondents (29 per cent) had procedures in place for resolving disputes between family members.

Winkeljohann adds that the proportion of family businesses experiencing conflicts between family members has risen since the research was last conducted in 2007.