Business First Summer 2017 Business First Magazine Summer 2017 | Page 30

FAMILY BUSINESS 2017 Family business: the heartbeat of our local economy by Darren McDowell, Partner, Harbinson Mulholland f the term ‘family business sector’ conjures up an image of small, perhaps even artisan enterprises lovingly creating small bespoke products for a local marketplace you would be right, but equally you would be wrong. Like the year before, this year’s Top 100 Owner Managed and Family Businesses in Northern Ireland (Top 100) shows family businesses make up over 70 per cent of the list! That’s right, more than two thirds of the most profitable businesses in Northern Ireland have been founded, managed and/or owned by families. The snapshot the Top 100 offers would no doubt, if extrapolated out, reveal that across Northern Ireland family firms dominate our local private sector. I When love and business collide The measurement of success for many family business extends beyond the profit margins, it’s an achievement of managing family relationships as much as business strategy. Bonds of love and wealth can become toxic if left unmanaged, but as the Top 100 testifies those who get it right can build world class global businesses. In fact nine of the top ten on the list are family businesses! As a firm working with many family businesses we identified an appetite and a need within the sector that exte