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All Ireland Family Business Conference

On November 25th and 26th, Ulster University Business School's Centre for Sustainable Family Enterprise, in collaboration with DCU National Centre for Family Business, hosted the inaugural All-Ireland Family Business Research Network conference.

Held over a day and a half on the wonderful Ulster University Belfast campus, the event brought together researchers from across Ireland and around the globe. Featuring inspiring guest speakers and interactive workshops, the conference provided ample opportunities for networking and exchanging theory, ideas and personal experiences related to family businesses.

Professor Gillian Armstrong MBE, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean of Ulster University Business School, kicked off the event by welcoming everyone to the AIFBR and setting an enthusiastic tone for the day. Attendees were then divided into groups for an ideation workshop aligned with their areas of interest. To wrap up the first day, each group leader shared their key discussion points and innovative ideas and the evening concluded with a delightful dinner at Ulster University’s Academy Restaurant, followed by an opportunity for guests to explore the sights of Belfast.

Day two began with guests arriving to a warm welcome of food and refreshments. The first keynote speaker, Kristel Miller from Ulster University, captivated the audience by sharing her intriguing experiences in securing funding and developing networks. She emphasized the importance of translating research into tangible societal benefits, highlighting that real-world impact holds more weight than theory in the eyes of businesses, especially when seeking funding. Kristel also underscored the significance of collaborating with the right people, urging attendees to reach out and take risks when necessary for meaningful partnerships.

Next up was keynote speaker Natalia Vershinina from Audencia, who delved into the anatomy of the Family Business Review award winning paper titled "Sacralization and the Intergenerational Transmission of Values in Cadbury." written with co-authors Roy Suddaby Wilson Ng Matthew Cadbury. She provided fascinating insights into the Cadbury family, illustrating how their core values align with Quaker principles like honesty, fairness, and charity. Natalia emphasized the crucial role of founding principles and leadership, describing them as the "building blocks" of a successful enterprise. She also highlighted the benefits of maintaining "a system of values and a humanitarian approach to managing people."

Following a brief coffee break, Allan Discua Cruz from Centre for Family Business (UK) Lancaster University Management School captivated attendees with personal anecdotes and insights on the power of narrative in crafting a research program. He highlighted the numerous benefits of family businesses sharing their stories, noting that they "serve as a way to articulate and transmit an organization's culture." Drawing from his own background in a family business, he identified three key areas where a business's narrative and storytelling can be advantageous:

Identity: Providing a family business with an identity and traditions to take pride in and uphold.
Culture: Fostering a positive culture that the family is committed to maintaining within their business.
Learning: Leveraging past experiences to continuously improve in the future.

Dr. Cruz eloquently stated, "Every family in business has a story to tell, a legend to live up to, a tragedy to lament."

Attendees then engaged in another collaborative workshop, regrouping after the enlightening talks. Led by Judith Woods PhD of Ulster University, they participated in an ideation sprint to further explore ideas and share experiences. The event concluded with each group presenting their top concepts and reflections on what they had learned from one another and the exceptional speakers over the past two days.

The conference was a resounding success, uniting brilliant minds to share research and ideas while fostering networks within the family business community. Next year's conference will be held in Cork, hosted by Linda Murphy-Patten PhD Dr. Dave Alton at Cork University Business School, and everyone is eagerly anticipating reconvening to build upon the insights gained.

We also extend our gratitude to the Academy Restaurant and Catering Service for providing a delightful dinner and keeping our guests refreshed with snacks and beverages throughout the two days as well as Christina Woods and Brendan Gallagher for their work behind the scences.

For any academic who is interested in engaging with the AIFBR to align their research in the Family Business field, please reach out.

NI Family Business Forum - Annual Conference 2024

Image of attendees at NI Family Business Forum

On Tuesday the 15^th of October Ulster University alongside Harbinson and Mulholland hosted the Annual Northern Ireland Family Business Forum. Over 40 Northern Irish family businesses were represented, and the event was a huge success in showcasing the strengths, opportunities and values of family businesses whilst also addressing the challenges and difficulties that they face in modern times.

Darren McDowell, Senior Partner at Harbinson Mulholland, opened the event by saying "The businesses in this room today employ over 10,000 people”. He outlined how important family Businesses are to the both the Northern Irish Economy and to communities. He also highlighted the deep connection between employers and employees and how staff should take pride in supporting staff members and their families.

Gemma Hamilton (Business Growth Fund) and David Ferguson (Bob & Bert's) Both provided valuable insight in their discussion. They touched on the importance of strategic growth and self-assessment for NI businesses.

‘Be honest with yourself, Northern Ireland business owners often downplay their achievements’.

Bob and Berts growth story can provide inspiration and provided an example that that minority investors like the Business Growth Fund provide crucial support without taking over.

Liz and Leila from Liz Lean PR shared their unique experience operating their business as mother and daughter. They explained their podcast which provides helpful advice for family businesses such as carrying out regular SWAT analysis to assess the businesses reputation. They also outlined the importance of celebrating milestones as they spoke on their 20^th anniversary in 2019. Liz also said “Your reputation is your crown jewels” further outlining how important they consider reputation and public image to be when involved in a family business.

Dr Ian Smyth, from Ulster University, gave some interesting points on leadership transition in family businesses.

Family firms should embrace the future by nursing its “babies” (new ideas, innovations and leaders) as he outlined how holding on to power for too long is detrimental to growth. Emotional attachment in a family business can be a strength and a weakness.

Patrick McGirr from the Artificial Intelligence Collaboration Centre at Ulster University also gave insight on the adoption of AI in business and the significant strategic changes that can be made within companies. With the importance of AI steadily increasing this was an interesting talk on how it can be used effectively by businesses.

Liz and Leila Willingham held a panel discussion on the role non-family directors play in ensuring long-term sustainability. They spoke on the “Black magic of family businesses” where family members naturally fall into roles that suit them best without needing any formal training. They also highlighted how communication is the bedrock of success and is especially important when bringing through the next generation.

Gina London, global leadership expert, offered some useful advice on how to communicate with intention. She also introduced the acronym A.I.M.

Audience – Tailor your communication to who you’re speaking to.
Intent – Inspire action, not just deliver information.
Message - Ensure your message is clear, brief, and calls for action.

A common theme appeared throughout the even which was that change is needed for growth and good communication is critical for relationships in family businesses.

Gillian Beare (Finn Lough), Dave Morrow (Barclays) and John-George Willis (non-executive director) had an interesting panel discussion where they reinforced the importance of external, non-family perspectives. The benefits of hiring a non-executive director for example are that they offer independent thinking free from bias and are aligned with the ownership structure.

Glen Dott (Scottish Enterprise), Catherine Muldoon (DLD Foundation) and Karen Maguire (Relinea) spoke on employee ownerships as a business success model and Karen gave her first hand account of going through this process and what the transition was like.

Kat DeLorean, daughter of John DeLorean appeared virtually at the event and spoke on how she is following on her father’s legacy whilst also facing some of the same challenges that he did. She encouraged owners of family businesses to listen to professionals and to be careful when mixing passion and attachment with important business decisions. Kat outlined how failure can be a positive thing on the way to growth and revealed that she hopes to unveil the next-generation DeLorean on her father’s 100th Birthday.

To conclude the 2024 Annual NI Business Forum was undoubtedly a success with so many different speakers giving interesting insights into family businesses. The challenges they face, how they can grow and be successful and giving their unique stories and experiences. The event showcased how important family businesses are for Northern Ireland and certainly provided inspiration for anybody in attendance that’s not already involved in one to strongly consider it.

Ulster University also provided a stand at the event which advertised their Mini MBA Family Business Leadership course. The stand provided Booklets and a QR code with Further information. Placement student Brendan Gallagher was also helping advertise the course. This stand proved very popular on the day among guests. If you would like to find out more about the family Business Leadership Course or how to sign up return to the website’s homepage for details.

Also, a huge thanks to W5 for providing a fantastic venue and Nightcap Event Group for all their help on the day. Additionally, a massive thanks to Mark Simpson for his excellent hosting of the event.

Morelli's Share Their Family Business Story

NI Family Business Forum visit the Morellis

On February 2024, The NI Family Business Forum travelled to Portstewart for an exciting event with the Morellis.
The Morelli family arrived in the UK from the village of Casalattico, Italy, in 1907. Soon after Mario Morelli began making ice cream, which he sold from a bicycle in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Morelli family have upheld this family tradition of selling ice cream and have become one of the most well known ice cream brands in the UK.
Damien Morelli and his team kindly treated the Family Business guests to lunch before the eldest of the family Nino spoke to the guests. Joined with his son Angelo and his niece Daniela the Morellis shared their story and gave some fascinating insight into their lives running the family business and how much it means to them upkeeping their family’s tradition.
Finally, the guests were of course treated to some of Morellis finest ice cream and other deserts to cap off a brilliant experience for the NI family Business Forum.

The Faces of Family Business' Episode 1: Morelli Ice Cream

To highlight the contribution of NI’s family businesses to our economy, we teamed up with local community channel NVTV to produce “The Faces of Family Business”.

The 6-part series ran during June 2024 with Season 2 planned to run later in the year.

From humble homemade beginnings in a Coleraine cafe to a multi-award winning ice cream empire, the generation-spanning Morelli family story began over a century ago. Since 1911, Morelli Ice Cream has remained a pillar of family business in Northern Ireland, always ready to provide refreshment or cool down a hot summer's day. This week, Ian Smyth is joined by Daniela and Nino Morelli to hear untold family stories and learn the secrets behind the company's unending success.

The Faces of Family Business offers a rare opportunity to hear from Northern Ireland's biggest business families as Ian Smyth and Darren McDowell uncover the secret histories, challenges, and pleasures of maintaining a successful business and a strong family at the same time.

You can view episode one below. To view all 6 episodes of the faces of family Business visit the NPTV channel through this link: The Faces of Family Business - Episode 1: Morelli Ice Cream

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