Cranfield School of Management has joined forces with UK private bank Coutts to offer a development programme to help ambitious family businesses grow.

Aimed at multi-generational family concerns based in the UK, participants will gain an understanding of how to balance the often competing demands of family membership and owning and managing the business along with insights into maintaining the values of both through a tough trading environment.

Programme director David Molian, from the Bettany Centre for Entrepreneurial Performance & Economics at Cranfield, says: “Family businesses are the backbone of the British economy, and now more than ever we must ensure these businesses are in good shape for the economic recovery.”

The programme’s approach is highly interactive, comprising speaker presentations and group work, culminating in a development planning framework for the business.