Family-owned businesses disappear amid more opportunity for young Londoners

Two very different downtown businesses with a shared history and a shared challenge: No family members interested in continuing their tradition.
In the same week that Kingsmill’s department store was cleaning out the last of its stock and getting ready to lock the doors a final time, Mascot co-owner Peter Veregiris announced his restaurant would be closing after 43 years in business.
In a region that has had more than its share of youth unemployment, one may think it would be easy for the owners of family businesses find young relatives ready to pick up the torch.
But that’s increasingly not the case.
“I honestly think the kids these days have so much more opportunities than a family business,” says Janette MacDonald, executive director at the Downtown London business association.
“I think there is definitely room in our economy for family businesses, and there is a lot of them in Covent Garden Market that have gone on for some time. But (there’s also the fact) that a lot of the jobs kids are doing these days, weren’t around 10 years ago.”
Sean Quigley, executive director at Emerging Leaders, sees several reasons why the younger generation may not want to run with what their families started.
“One of the big things, and it happened during the 1930s stock market crash, is in times of economic decline when things are tough, a lot of the younger generation start their own businesses,” said Quigley.
Another factor may be these family owned businesses do not have a clear succession plan in place to move the business from one generation to another.
“It is an important question,” he said. “I have heard it a lot in organizations that are 30 people or less, that many of them have some big issues with succession planning.
“With people retiring later, there is less and less opportunity for younger people to get the experience they need to step into those leadership positions.”