Yesterday took me across to Bristol to run a unique workshop on preparing responsible owners in the next generation for the IFB South West Forum.

We all assume we understand the term ‘Responsible Ownership’ but bringing together different generations from the same family provided some interesting (and at times very different!) perspectives on what responsible ownership really means and together, we started to build a framework for what this might look like.

For every family at the workshop, this framework was different, highlighting the importance of each family working things out for themselves and understanding what’s important to them and the future of their family business.

One of the key discussions of the day was around what it takes to be a responsible owner – key points included ensuring you have clarity around your role, providing a long term view (that aligns with other owners), understanding that different generations and arms of the family will have different perspectives and protecting the relationships that the company and the family value.

What are the priorities in your family business as you start to prepare your next generation? What does a responsible owner look like to you?