Family businesses have always been great innovators, adapting their skills and resources to look beyond survival to show ambition to expand.
This innate ingenuity was very evident among the 53 chief executives and 198 employees who responded to Surviving a Crisis as a Family Business, a seven-month study conducted by DCU National Centre for Family Business, along with colleagues at Ulster University, the Northern Ireland Family Business Forum, and the University of Central Florida.
The study shows businesses investing in and enhancing e-commerce platforms, rolling out “click + collect” and other new retail services, while taking on new financial tracking systems even as revenues were hit, most notably by Covid.
“Family businesses have traditionally been the backbone of the economy, with 64 per cent of all businesses in the Republic of Ireland and 74 per cent of businesses in Northern Ireland being family-run affairs,” says Dr Catherine Faherty, DCU National Centre for Family Business.
When asked about the factors that contribute to their companies’ coping and resilience in very challenging times, it emerged that the companies all share common factors for their continuing success, ranging from strategic planning to open communications, resilience and innovation.
All of these factors are very clearly evident among the companies features in this special report.
Generations of pure commitment to business
Family business runs deep in the DNA of Helen Wycherley in her roles as director of Cork’s Marina Commercial Park and the Celtic Ross Hotel in Rosscarbery.
“I have good role models in my dad and my late mother, who passed away 16 years ago. They both had a wonderful influence on me. I went to college and worked in Dublin before moving back to Cork in 2007 to work in the family business.”
The Celtic Ross hotel opened in 1997 – a key element of the family business that has continued to grow and expand over the years.
“I didn’t choose a career in hospitality, and began by working on the floor in each department for nearly a year when I first started. Then I worked in sales, marketing, PR for a number of years. With it being a family business, I was always involved at a management level from the beginning and as a chartered accountant by qualification it has been a help in the figures area of the operation,” she explains.
A loyal staff count for so much in the hospitality business – an area that is very well served by the team at the Celtic Ross.
“Everyone is driven to serve our customers, always smiling and willing to go the extra mile time and again. I am proud that the passion for the job is still the same, and nobody sits still for long in the hotel business.”
Wycherley’s responsibilities are strategic and mainly involve working with the senior management team: “The best part of my job is meeting people – everyone has a story and something interesting to say.”
Having celebrated its 25 years in business last March, the Celtic Ross hotel continues as a proud family jewel: “When its doors first opened in 1997 it was the first hotel to be built in west Cork in 30 years. I have been part of the hotel since inception and have celebrated many of our own family occasions here. I am proud to continue what my parents started a quarter century ago, and the successful journey it has taken us all over the time.”
During this historic centenary year, it adds greatly to the Celtic Ross’s deep roots and family history that Michael Collins was born in the parish of Rosscarbery at Sam’s Cross – in addition to the fact that the legendary patriot’s parents are buried in the graveyard close by. Another pair of Ireland’s more prominent patriots Jeremiah O’Donovan Rossa and Tom Barry – also have strong connections to Rosscarbery.
It was invigorating and inspiring to see the enthusiasm of other women going about their business
For her presidency of Network Ireland in 2019, Wycherley’s theme was ‘Step Up’ – during which she visited all branches around the country.
“It was invigorating and inspiring to see the enthusiasm of other women going about their business. Coming together with like-minded people to support each other discussing the same topics, the same issues, offering each other ideas, is very empowering.”
With such a network providing a type of family ethos in itself, Wycherley is fulsome in her praise of an organisation where “women get to meet like-minded women in business, which in itself is inspiring. It encourages women to not only set goals, apply for grants, and enter an awards scheme, it also demonstrates that by setting goals, female entrepreneurs get to grow and develop.”
The current boom in Cork business is lifting all commercial boats, even with the challenging memory of Covid still visible in the rearview mirror.
“We have a city with multiple cranes in the sky, all of them there because there is a demand for them. Big companies are realising that they need to have a presence in Cork and are choosing here to set up their headquarters to attract Cork business.”
With her own three children all under 10, it’s definitely too early to guess whether they’ll eventually put their mark on this enduring family affair. Like Helen herself, they will be given the space and time to make their own decisions about that.
“It’s very early days,” she laughs. “But, just like I did as a youngster, they will all have jobs in the hotel during their school holidays in a few years’ time. Beyond that, we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Surviving and thriving with sound advice
In her role as associate director for financial services at Sherry Fitzgerald based in Galway, Noreen McKenzie is no stranger to family business.
Across her 21 years’ experience as an independent broker, specialising in pensions, illness and income protection, investment advice and mortgages, she has built up an extensive experience of servicing the needs of such family clients.
“Looking after the financial needs of my clients has always been my first priority, priding myself on giving appropriate advice, tailored to suit the clients individual needs,” she explains. “No jargon just plain English.”
Given that a relatively recent study found that two-thirds of businesses are family concerns speaks for itself, McKenzie points out: “While I work in the financial services arm of the firm, Sherry Fitzgerald itself started out with Mark Fitzgerald and Philip Sherry, and now has very many of its offices around the country run as family businesses.”
The firm opened its 100th branch nationally in 2021, another secure brick in an nationwide enterprise where the vast majority of branches are run as family concerns.
“Certainly family businesses have proven themselves resilient through various downturns and recessions – often with the owners the last to be paid when times are tough. There is very much a sense of honour amongst them that the staff will be paid first, and they will feed from what is left.”
Yet, while the economic fallout from Covid has impacted harshly on many businesses, McKenzie does admit that her area of financial services has never been busier: “We did go on a four-day week during the first lockdown, but were actually working six days as a result of people finding themselves in properties that often no longer suited their living needs.
“Coupled with this, clients were at home full-time with time on their hands, to gather their paperwork and accomplish much quicker what would previously have taken far longer.”
Network Ireland, the women’s business group, has named McKenzie as its national president for 2022, during which time she will work with its 1,200 members in 14 regional branches throughout the year.
The Ballaghaderreen native first joined the Galway branch of Network Ireland in 2015 and was Galway Branch President in 2017.
Sometimes as women, our self-belief can falter and this is where the belief of our network colleagues can be invaluable
Her priorities for 2022 include reaching more women from diverse communities and backgrounds across the country, in addition to actively encouraging people to join the organisation who would benefit from the professional and social support built up over the years at Network Ireland. Her theme for 2022 is the Power of Belief.
“Sometimes as women, our self-belief can falter and this is where the belief of our network colleagues can be invaluable to push us forward, take the risk, face the fear and thrive,” she says.
“Our own opinion of our ability or lack of ability is often what is holding us back and this holds true in research findings on women putting themselves forward for leadership roles in family businesses. These extremely capable women often don’t view themselves as the best fit for succession and top leadership roles within the family business, so I want to harness the support available from our fellow Network members to help drive us all forward.
“As women with strong self-belief, we can achieve anything. We would have a substantial number of members who might have grown up within a family business, and then chose to take a solo entrepreneurial path into a business of their own - which may in time grow into another generational enterprise passed down the line.”
Network Ireland is unique in that it offers support, mentoring and confidence building for women, in particular those starting in business or returning to the workplace.
Members can develop and pool their individual skills through interaction and collaboration with other women in a supportive environment which offers training, mentoring and an opportunity to tap into the skills and specialist expertise of other members.
While the pandemic brought massive challenges for many businesses, McKenzie points to the advantages of technology that quickly became second nature due to necessity. “Prior to Covid I would have met all of my clients on a one-to-one basic, but over the past two years have only met people on Zoom. Technology has enabled far greater efficiency and time management for us and clients alike.
Business has never been busier – there seems to be a huge level of interest in finance
“While there was a degree of discomfort at the start, that was quickly overcome in the way that it allowed for greater flexibility and working from home. In the main, clients are far happier with this newer, more efficient and slicker process.”
Already practically halfway through 2022, McKenzie predicts a continued upward graph for business in the Financial Services sector: “From our perspective, business has never been busier – there seems to be a huge level of interest in finance. And from an auctioneering perspective, there is a lack of supply.
“There is a huge demand out there by people who have been approved for finance - all looking for houses from a pool of limited stock. The fact that our staff here in Financial Services has grown from 18 to 28 in the last year tells its own story really.”