OF the many interesting dimensions to the Scottish Family Business Top 100 report, one is the high number of long-established companies which made it into the higher echelons of the ranking.
William Grant & Sons, which topped the list, is a case in point. The Scotch whisky distiller, owned by the wealthy Grant Gordon Family, can trace its roots back to 1887.
Arnold Clark, which emerged from the study in second place, offers another: it was established by the late Sir Arnold Clark in 1954. Then there’s the likes of GAP Group, Wemyss Development Company, WA Baxter & Sons, and Grahams The Family Dairy, all of which have histories that span the generations.
Such longevity brings multiple benefits. For one, such firms will have provided sustainable employment for generations of families in towns and villages across Scotland. That sustainability, of course, does not come without long-term planning, and it is perhaps in this regard that family firms have an advantage over their multi-national rivals.
As Tom Craig of business adviser Craig Corporate noted yesterday, family concerns, often wedded to their local communities, typically take a longer-term view on their investments. And that makes them much less likely to withdraw from communities, or step back from expansion plans, when short term factors come to bear.
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