An Arctic expedition in the name of Family Business

On 14th April 2011, Family Business Place’s very own Amalia Brightley-Hodges will be embarking on a completely crazy and utterly barmy 300km expedition across the Arctic with a group of other young entrepreneurs from family businesses! All in aid of Greenwich and Bexley Community Hospice, hoping to raise £8,000 for this amazing cause.

And why on earth is she doing such an incredibly stupid thing?

“Firstly, it’s about doing something with other next gen who have grown up in the family business and want to use their own entrepreneurial spirit to get ahead in life. With renowned family business adviser, Sandy Loder, we will be exploring entrepreneurship and leadership and learning skills to help us become a success as the next generation of business leaders. It’s also going to make a fab feature for the next issue of Generation!

Secondly, I’ve set myself a target of raising £8,000 for Greenwich and Bexley Community Hospice who need to raise over £4million every year to provide support and palliative care for terminally ill adults and their families. It’s a charity very close to my heart as they cared for my terminally ill mother-in-law during her final days before she passed away at Christmas. Without them, she would never have received such a peaceful and dignified send off.”

Amalia will also be keeping a diary of the expedition along with her fellow family business trekkers which will feature in the Spring/Summer issue of Generation magazine, and will also include a thanks to all of her donors.

Amalia and the team at FBP would appreciate any contribution you can make, whether it’s £100, £200 or £500 – please dig very, very deep and donate to this amazing cause. Hopefully together we can make it to Amalia’s target for this great cause!

The easiest way to donate is online at -

www.justgiving.com/ArcticAmalia

Or send a cheque (made payable to Greenwich and Bexley Community Hospice) to -

Amalia Brightley-Hodges
Top Floor Flat
12 Eliot Park
Lewisham
London
SE13 7EG

Best wishes from the Family Business Place Team

Celebrating 150 years by giving something back…

Leading timber specialist, James Donaldson & Sons Ltd is celebrating 150 years in business this year.  To mark the company’s sesquicentennial, James Donaldson & Sons Ltd has decided to leave a 150th anniversary legacy for the benefit of the community. Mr Neil Donaldson, Chairman and CEO of James Donaldson & Sons Ltd explains:

“For a company to survive 150 years is incredibly rare, and is something which we within the firm are enormously proud of. The Directors and I did not want this amazing milestone to go unrecognised and gave much thought about how to celebrate the achievement.”

Two years ago, the Directors of James Donaldson & Sons decided to start a charity in recognition of the 150th anniversary. Rather than waste money in short term revelry, the company donated £150,000 to the new charity, and so The Donaldson Leadership Academy was launched.

The purpose of the charity is to help children who have not had an easy start in life to realise their true potential. These young people often have very low expectations for their future, so the aim of the Donaldson Leadership Academy is to challenge that perception.

The children are taken to social enterprise Columba 1400 on the Isle of Skye, which is devoted to leadership development. Here they develop team skills, self worth and confidence, and most importantly, enjoy themselves.

For the last two years the charity has sent 32 young people from the Levenmouth area where the company was founded to Columba 1400. Mr Donaldson explains the results:

“Seeing the effect this experience can have on children is incredibly moving. My wife and I have participated with the children on Skye in each of the last two years and not only have these visits been inspirational they have also been life changing.

“I hope that through the generosity of our shareholders and suppliers, we will be able to double the figure we have already invested in the Donaldson Leadership Academy.”

The Donaldson Group, which comprises Donaldson Timber Engineering Ltd, James Donaldson Timber Ltd, MGM Timber Ltd and Parker Kislingbury Ltd, began in 1860, when James Donaldson started selling timber from Tayport in Fife.

In the last 150 years, James Donaldson & Sons Ltd has grown to become one of the UK’s leading independent processors, manufacturers and distributors of timber and engineered timber products.

From one small branch in Fife, Donaldson’s has become a nationwide group with 21 operating branches across the UK.

Dualit was born out of one man’s passion for invention

Max Gort-Barten was a German-born entrepreneur who found himself in England – and therefore signed up to the British army – just as the second World War broke out.
When the war was over he bought a small factory in Camberwell in the absolute certainty that he would utilise his engineering skills and creativity to manufacture products. He had several early ideas, including the Dual-Light electric fire from which Dualit took its name, but it was a patented toaster that caught people’s attention.

An astute businessman, Max decided not to compete head to head with other
emerging consumer brands but instead focused on the commercial market. He designed and engineered a six-slice toaster with a built-in timer (the first of its kind) in 1952, which bears a striking resemblance to today’s Vario toaster. The company grew slowly over the next 20 years, gradually improving and extending its range of commercial toasters and adding other related products.

Consumer envy
Everything started to change in the ’70s. Max’s son Leslie joined the business. A Government-sponsored design grant gave Dualit the opportunity to employ a Royal College of Art design graduate. Export incentives prompted Leslie and Max to exhibit at foreign trade shows. And consumer demand for professional kitchen appliances led retailers like John Lewis to stock Dualit products.

When the Dualit toaster became the must-have kitchen appliance of the ’80s, the company was swamped by an insatiable demand. It was forced to extend the factory twice over and find ways of increasing its manufacturing capacity.

Constantly innovating
Today Dualit produces a range of kitchen and home appliances which remain firmly rooted in the values Max set out for the company in 1945. It is run by Max’s son, Leslie and is one of a handful of successful, independently-owned British manufacturers. Reliable, well-engineered products remain at the heart of the company and there is an instantly recognisable – and now nostalgically retro – Dualit aesthetic which can be traced back to Max’s first toaster designs in the 1950s.

One constant – an ability to embrace change – has seen the company revolutionise its manufacturing capability without compromising on quality and reliability. The innovative, entrepreneurial spirit that was so much a part of Max, is echoed in Leslie and now his son Alex who sit firmly in the product development driving seat.

Dualit – another family business success story

Bookstore open for business…

The team at the Family Business Place are constantly looking for ways to enhance the services available to the family business community and are delighted to announce the launch of their new online bookstore today.

Created with one thing in mind, to offer a useful family business resource, we have selected a number of family business specific books that we feel will be of interest to the community which are available to purchase online today.

Great authors such as Peter Leach, Randel Carlock, Grant Gordon and John Ward who are leading experts in the field are available at great prices so why not visit the store today.

Every family business has a story

Zildjian’s starts in 1623 and since then the company has built a reputation for exceeding customer expectations which can be attributed to both its sharp focus on continuous quality improvement and innovation, and its emphasis on the family character and rich tradition of the business.

Zildjian’s enduring values—leadership, commitment to quality and craftsmanship, passion for music and fun, music education, and a strong family heritage and culture—have guided the company in carrying out its vision over the years.

An inspiring family business story and something to celebrate.

Thoughts from the next generation…

It’s clear from the first moment you meet Victoria that her work at Clive Christian is based around two things – drive and passion. After a career in musical theatre, Victoria joined her father’s business on the shop floor at Fortnum and Mason and now, eight years on, is Head of Global Media and Events.

Despite working alongside her father for a company which sells ‘the World’s Most Expensive Perfume’, Victoria is as down to earth as they come and she oozes energy and enthusiasm. Apart from the usual ‘we talk about work too much at home’ comment, Victoria says she wouldn’t change a single thing about working in the family business. In fact she insists it’s quite the opposite. Their working relationship has deepened their personal bond and given them “an extra pocket of communication”.

Victoria’s passion for the business goes hand in hand with her admiration and respect for her father, Clive, who she says is “relentless in his ambition to maintain the company’s reputation and heritage. Our company motto that was given to us by the Royal College of Arms is ‘fax animi honestae gloria’ which means ‘through honour glory is found’. Honesty and fairness are true values of the business and we all work towards the delivery of our brand philosophy.”

In some cases, family members have a role created for them, which can often cause tension amongst the non-family members of the team. In Victoria’s case she says it was soon clear that she would have to work her way to the top and go through the same process as everybody else – “I wouldn’t change my entrance to the company. My father saw to it that I experienced every level of the organisation from the starting rung, making and maintaining the connection with the customer and this has served me well as I have grown in the company.” Victoria has some good advice for those contemplating working in a family business – “Lay some ground rules before you start. There’s nothing worse than having an undefined job role and plan of action.

As the next generation at Clive Christian, Victoria has some sound advice for those following in their fathers footsteps and has a refreshing, but driven approach to business too.

Click here to read more about the life of the woman behind this global brand.

Proud to be a family business?

FBProud is the latest initiative from Family Business Place to raise the profile of the family business community around the world.  Family businesses make a significant contribution to the global economy and whilst they can belong to sector specific bodies and organisations there is no recognised ‘international badge’ for these businesses.

Family Business Place have launched a new initiative to effectively introduce a ‘kitemark’ for family businesses that can be used on collateral and websites to celebrate the fact that as a business with family involvement they are proud to be a family business.

We have developed a ‘kitemark’ that can be obtained following a simple registration process and hope that we will start to see it on family business websites around the world.

Help us to celebrate all that is good about family businesses and be Proud of who you are.  To find out more and take part in this initiative please do not hesitate to contact us