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Are family businesses more resilient?
Hundreds of family businesses across Dorset and Hampshire are to be quizzed about the particular challenges they face.
Princecroft Willis (PcW) has launched its second family business survey amid signs that family-run companies have coped better with the downturn than other sectors.
The chartered accountants and business advisers sponsored the Family Business of the Year category in the latest Dorset Business Awards. According to PcW, the number and range of entrants suggested that family businesses have proved particularly resilient during the recession.
Nick Love, family business partner, said: “We were delighted with the response, both in the quality and diversity of entries. It’s made us wonder if Dorset is different from the country as a whole.
“The economy has seen unprecedented changes since we carried out our last local survey in 2007 and we’re keen to see how family businesses have adapted to the changing economic environment.
“Our gut feeling is that family businesses have weathered the storm better than their non-family counterparts. However, the only way to find out is to ask them, hence the survey.“
Searching for answers: Nick Love, PcW’s family business partner
Nationally three million businesses, or 65% of the private sector, are family run. One in three people works in a family business.
The PcW family business survey in 2007 was believed to have been the first of its kind in the south. Key findings included: 27% of participants had reached the third generation or beyond; the top business driver was to increase profitability followed by providing for the needs of the family; 40% had begun planning for retirement but only 9% had written down a succession plan.
Country’s highest accolade for Terence O’Rourke
Planning, design and environmental consultancy Terence O’Rourke has won the Royal Town Planning Institute’s (RTPI) Planning Consultancy of the Year Award for 2010 – the year the practice also celebrated its 25th anniversary.
The award, which is the country’s highest accolade for professional planning consultancies, was announced at the RTPI’s annual national award ceremony at the London Park Lane Hilton.
The practice also won a commendation for its work on the Clay Country Vision eco-community near St Austell, Cornwall, taking the company’s combined tally of RTPI awards and commendations to 19 in its 25-year history.
Bournemouth-based Terence O’Rourke employs just under 100 staff, working on projects from a diverse range of sectors across the UK. High-profile recent projects include film giant Warner Bros’ Leavesden Studios and Harry Potter Visitor Centre in Hertfordshire, Grosvenor’s Trumpington Meadows urban extension in Cambridge and Bournemouth’s Town Centre Master Plan Vision with Morgan Sindall.
The judges commented: “Clarity of thought is reflected in the direct way in which Terence O’Rourke addressed its approach to some difficult projects.
It is a cohesive team, engaged and
empowered, and clients benefit from long-term involvement across their business, with sustainability principles embedded in sound advice.“
Managing director Tim Hancock added: “Winning Planning Consultancy of the Year is the perfect end to 2010, which was our 25th anniversary year. We are delighted to share this success with our team and clients, and look forward to continuing to help deliver more high-profile projects in the future.“
www.businessmag.co.uk
From left: RTPI president Richard Summers with Planning magazine editor Richard Garlick and Terence O’Rourke staff: Paul Rogers, Ann Bartaby, Rhian Powell and Tim Hancock
Ceuta among Europe’s finest
Bournemouth-based Ceuta Healthcare has been honoured in a list of top growth companies in Europe at a special awards ceremony this month. The multi award-winning company took its place among Europe’s finest in Brussels, where certificates were presented by former federal chancellor of Germany Gerhard Schroder.
Ceuta, founded in 1994, is the leading independent health and beauty outsourcing company today, managing some of the UK’s foremost OTC medicines, toiletries and vitamins.
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – APRIL 2011
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