Image: The late Anita Roddick: founder of family-run organisation The Body Shop.

Family firms are leading the way in appointing women to senior positions compared to non-family businesses according to a recent survey of more than 1m UK private businesses.

Conducted on behalf of the Institute for Family Business by the University of Leeds and the University of Nottingham, the report highlights that 44% of family firms employ more female directors compared to 32% of non family run enterprises.

As an experienced coaching executive and strategy consultant who has worked with many family companies, I find this to be an encouraging development. With more talented women progressing to MD and CEO roles, the perennial challenges of succession planning – which plague so many family enterprises – will hopefully lessen.  

In my experience as a non executive director, women add much value at board level. It’s also hoped that FTSE 100 companies will have 25 per cent of women on their boards by 2015 following the Government’s Davies Report – a statistic which female entrepreneur champions such as Heather Jackson are constantly seeking to improve upon.

 The report’s findings have also sparked inspiration for my next blog – the challenges of succession planning in family businesses.

In the meantime, if you are in a family run businesses and seeking help to power your company to the next level then contact me at richard.bosworth@whatifspecialist.com or go to @richardwhatif on Twitter and Richard Bosworth on LinkedIn.