Family Businesses

The most transformative aspect is the willingness of family offices to collaborate and share knowledge openly -a phenomenon sweeping the family office community- as they come out of the shadows.

A conversation with Ghazal Saeed and Rakan Ismail Al Gergawi, co-founders of Wadi Al Amardi, on helping to transform Dubai's food landscape.

Each family needs to establish common values and consult wealth advisors together with heirs to prevent future misunderstandings, and thereby realize a smoother generational wealth transfer.

Only around 10 to 15% of family businesses in the UAE make it to the third generation.

Families with a clear long-term strategy in place fared better than those without, and the need for a formalized family governance is more evident than ever.

As we emerge from the physical and psychological confines of the pandemic, it's important for families around the globe to manifest healthy adaptations to the stresses and disruptions of the last four years.

Al-Bahrani gets candid about leading one of the largest privately owned business houses in the Gulf region, dating back to over half a century.

As a business matures, it is essential to bring in people with experience, and for a founder to assume that his or her child is the most knowledgeable person out there is fundamentally flawed.

Beyond the crisis response, family businesses must adapt themselves to a changed post-crisis landscape.

Having launched in 1982 in Beirut, Lebanon, this family business expanded to the UAE in 2012, and Mirodec has steadily built itself up to be known as one of the market leaders in this particular space.

Your family business is what you inherited or created, it is also what you aspire into building further, and carrying it forward for the generations to come.

It is very common that businesses attract stakeholder's family members to the workplace. However, all is not always well when it comes to their induction journey.

Along with the adaptation of new technology is the need for renewed commitment to open communication and transparency, which will be needed by UAE family businesses in the face of global competition.

Taking certain precautionary measures in governance control is extremely important for the integrity and future of a family business.

Generation on generation, the business grows, changes, and adapts. As CEOs age and have the will to step away from the daily management of the business, we must be ready to appoint new heirs. Yet, with each new leader, there should be a level of transformation of the company.

As family businesses expand from their humble beginnings to full-fledged organizations, balance needs to be learned while facing unique performance and governance challenges.

In a region where over 80% of businesses are either owned or controlled by families, it's easy to note the similarities between the growth stories of the Shaikhani Group of Companies and other family businesses based here in the Middle East.

It is a more private, low profile subset of the business world that turns out to be the main driver: family businesses.

The subject of family owned business is important globally, and in particular in the Middle East, where it is further exacerbated by the fact that many of these types of businesses are first or second generation family-owned companies.

Nasser's entry at GMG comes at a time when the company is seeing quite a rapid rate of growth- it's grown by double digits over 2014, and it has further expansion plans on the agenda as well.

While succession is challenging for all businesses, this issue often becomes even more complicated when family relationships must also be considered.