FBUK Family Council Community shares Best practice
The FBUK Family Council Community met online this week to discuss how to extract maximum value, from your Family council.
The online call featured a fascinating case study by leading independent engineering and services company, NG Bailey, followed by an open Q&A session.
NG Bailey Family Council co-chairs Chris Bailey and Claire East took us through the evolution of their council, since its original formation in 2005.
This eye-opening history highlighted some of the challenges faced with an ever-expanding family forum, and suggestions on how to best structure the family council to ensure all voices are heard ,and decision-making happens quickly and effectively.
The case study highlighted the value of the Family Council as a sounding board for the F-NEDs on the Board and the value to the individual member, who is offered development and learning opportunities to deepen their understanding of the business.
Nearly two decades later, the NG Bailey Family Council is now re-evaluating its purpose to ensure it remains relevant and continues to meet the needs of the family and the business.
A lively Q&A followed the introduction, with members of other family councils taking away advice to apply to their own structures and operations.
Our thanks to Claire and Chris who spoke candidly about the challenges and opportunities faced by the council and helpfully outlined the rhythm of meetings, election of members and significance of culture in the council’s success.
This Community deeply benefits from the experiences of real family businesses, shared openly, so that peer-to-peer knowledge share and connections, aid the developments of our delegates own practise.
We are delighted to have Ben Allan from Wykeland Group confirmed to present the next case study at the online meeting in May 2025.
Family Council Community
A Family Council forms an important communication bridge between the business and the family, whether it is educating the family for their future responsibilities, acting as a bridge between the family and the business to settling disputes within the family.
The richness of conversation within our exclusive peer communities stems from the breadth, depth and experience of members engaged, so we encourage anyone who wishes to be involved in this, or our other FBUK communities, to email info@familybusinessuk.org to join the group.
Find our more about FBUK’s Peer Communities here.
FBUK Members Resource Centre
FBUK Members can also find an additional variety of Family Council, and other useful resources, within the Members Resource Centre here.