How family-owned businesses are paving the way for sustainability
We can celebrate the fact that the oldest existing business in England is a pub. Something in the British psyche means our national interest in a bit of a tipple has kept the +1,000 year old Bingley Arms going since 951AD . The year when Paris was founded, the world population was 250 million, and the decade when Edred became first King of all England.
The Bingley Arms is not alone in enduring through the ages – John Brooke & Sons makes the record books for the oldest UK fabrics business. It was founded in 1541, is currently run by the 15th generation of the family and can boast having made fabrics for soldiers fighting in the Battle of Trafalgar.
We have a sustainability mindset because that has always been our way of thinking. Is it because we are a family-owned business that we think long term, value stewardship and understand that our success is based on our stakeholders’ success? I don’t know – this way of thinking is ingrained, is part of our history and our culture. Our employees, suppliers, customers and communities are all part of our extended family – so in that way, along with our family owners, I guess we are a family business!
Rob Lambe, Managing Director, Re-Thinking and Energy Services, Willmott Dixon
…to grow a family business in ways that are profitable and sustainable for the benefit of our staff, customers and community.
Generations of our family have managed this business, and my generation want this to continue. Therefore, how we do business is critical – how we behave with each other, how we treat our customers and how we act with integrity. We are in a period of strong growth in a fast moving and ever-changing food industry and with empowered staff supporting our vision and values, we can safeguard and strengthen the business for future generations.