There can be little doubt that the larger the family, and the more generations it has been active in business, the greater the need for formal governance procedures to be in place. The evidence from our survey shows governance does tend to be a greater priority for large family businesses, but smaller businesses also recognise the advantages good governance can bring.

Those who were first or second generation, who maintained a patriarchal or matriarchal role or where the family itself was very limited in number, were far less likely to have implemented a constitution.

For many family businesses, a sense of shared purpose can be more important than anything else. Without a defining purpose that can be assented to by all those involved, the family enterprise can seem fruitless. As one respondent to this year’s Family Business Survey put it, “why not just dissolve the assets, share out the proceeds and be done with it”? Some families have followed this path, with those on the periphery receiving their share, leaving a reduced number of family members forming a more concentrated core. Many may remain keen to sustain the family purpose and name in their own manner, with new plans and ventures.

How might a family create this sense of shared purpose? Our experience of advising business owning families demonstrates repeatedly that the active pursuit of effective governance is a necessary starting point.