Press Release
26 March 2007
PricewaterhouseCoopers Cyprus presented the recent survey which they have carried out for family businesses with the title “Family Business Report – Cyprus 2007”.
The report presents the results of the Cyprus survey as well as summary results of the European wide survey. It aims to build greater awareness on issues faced by family businesses today and provide owners with useful peer group information in order to benchmark their own practices.
Discussing the survey Mr George Loizou, member of the Executive Board of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Markets Leader stressed that «Family businesses, both for the Cyprus market and the developed economies, are the driving force for the development of the economy and the business environment of each country. Especially for Cyprus, the family business activity is greatly developed with substantial contribution to the financial development of the island”.
The main issues that companies seem to face fall under the following areas:
- Restructuring of the business in preparation of ownership succession (addressing this from financial, tax and legal perspectives)
- Establishing family business governance rules - covering all issues relating to management, decision making, role of the BoD, role of the family members (owners), succession, ownership (acquiring, transferring and selling company shares)
- Examining the organisational structure of the business in the light of incorporating the new generation in the family business or planning for future management succession
- Establishing clear processes/systems for the family members working in the business in terms of their role as employees/ managers vs their role as owners, their performance monitoring and their reward
Mr Loizou also noted that “this report also provides practical suggestions as to how a business can tackle successfully the challenges targeting to build up substantial competitive advantage and also incorporates how PricewaterhouseCoopers can help the family businesses through our various service offerings and tapping on the knowledge and experience of our international network.”
For the PDF version of the “Family Business Report – Cyprus 2007” you can visit the PwC web site at www.pwc.com/cy or call at tel. no. 22555376 for a hard copy.
