A survey of Irish family businesses by PwC indicates that almost half expect sales to have shrunk in the last financial year, while six in ten are confident about growth ambitions for 2021.
The PwC Irish Family Business survey is based on interviews with 79 Irish-owned family businesses across all key industry sectors. More than one-third had turnover greater than $100m.
Asked about their prospects for 2021, close to nine in ten Irish family businesses expect their sales to grow.
Half of the family businesses surveyed by PwC said that they topped up the wages of staff with government Covid support schemes, while six in ten provided emotional and mental health supports employees.
Four in ten shareholders took a salary cut to support the business during the Covid pandemic.
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PwC’s survey also indicated a need for more technology adoption among Irish businesses. While nine in ten of the companies surveyed enabled home working for employees, less than half described their digital capabilities as ‘strong’.
Almost half of respondents told PwC improving digital capabilities is their second greatest priority for the next two years.
The top five priorities for the family businesses surveyed by PwC over the next 24 months are:
- Protecting the core business/costs/survival -- 52%
- Improving digital capabilities -- 48%
- Increasing use of new technologies -- 47%
- Expanding into new markets -- 47%
- Introducing new products/services -- 44%
In other findings, PwC showed that four in ten family business CEOs expressed extreme concern about cyber threats. Half stated that their organisation is explicitly factoring cyber threats into their organisation’s strategic risk management activities, while one-third plan double-digit investment in cybersecurity and data privacy.
The PwC survey also indicates that three-quarters of the Irish family businesses surveyed engage in proactive social responsibility activity, with seven in ten contributing to their local community.
Mairead Harbron (pictured), director in PwC Ireland’s entrepreneurial and private practice business, drew attention to the digital shortcomings among family businesses in Ireland.
“Although ahead of global peers, Irish family businesses are telling us that they’re still not doing as well as they want to on digital capabilities,” she said.
“There is clear evidence that being tech savvy enables agility and success, and the pandemic demolished any lingering doubts about the benefits of digital transformation. Irish family businesses acknowledge that they need to do more to accelerate their digital journey.”
John Dillon, leader in PwC Ireland’s entrepreneurial and practice business, noted that family businesses are now thinking differently about sustainability. “They feel that to be relevant and attractive to consumers, suppliers and employees, sustainability needs to be central to their business operations.
“They’re telling us it needs to be more than simply embedded within corporate giving activities. For Irish family businesses this is not just about stating a commitment to doing good, but about setting meaningful targets, measuring and reporting them so as to demonstrate a clear sense of sustainable outcomes when it comes to helping economies and societies. Family business owners want, above all, to create an enduring legacy and asset for future generations.”
PwC’s Irish survey of family businesses formed part of a larger piece of research, comprising 2,800 interviews with family business leaders and decision-makers across 87 territories, including Ireland. The interviews were conducted between November and December 2020.
