Research Note: Succession Management in Family Firms in Northeast England

Much emphasis is placed on family firms' need to plan well in advance for succession and to adopt such formal procedures as advisory councils and written succession plans. A study of 35 family firms in the North East of England suggests that few firms neither believe in the efficacy of such plans nor plan the succession process beyond five years. Since these companies have an average age of 60 years and are being run chiefly by CEOs from the second or subsequent generations of family membership, perhaps a formal management of the succession process is not as critical to business success as some have suggested.