In the UK the proportion of family businesses being given over to third parties is more than double that of Germany, France and Italy, according to new figures.

The study compared the growth of 4,000 companies in the three large European countries with those of the UK. The study – titled: Evolution of Family Capitalism – revealed the 30 percent of major UK family firms stayed under the ownership of relatives during the period between 1996 and 2006.

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

The study also revealed that 42 percent of family businesses in the UK were taken over and that 28 percent were transferred in to widely-held businesses.

Director-general of the Institute for Family Business, Grant Gordon –who 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 over third had conflicts over the future strategy.

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