The Evolution of Family Capitalism study compared 4,000 companies in the three European countries with those of the UK, and revealed that 30 per cent of major UK family firms had stayed under the ownership of relatives in the ten years up to 2007.

 

In comparison, 71 per cent of family businesses in Italy, 59 per cent of firms in France and 53 per cent of those based in Germany remained under the control of the same family.

 

The report showed that 42 per cent of UK family businesses were taken over and 28 per cent were transferred into widely-held businesses.

 

Grant Gordon, director-general of the Institute for Family Business which commissioned the report, said: “The sector is a spawning ground for the capital markets with growing family firms feeding through to the stock exchange as businesses seek to develop.”

 

According to the PricewaterhouseCoopers Family Business Survey 2007-08, almost half of family businesses have no succession plan and one-third had had conflicts over future strategy.