With figures showing that those companies prepared for future leadership do better financially than those that are not, family business owners have been urged to get their succession plans in order.
The call came from several speakers at an event organised by the International Centre for Families in Business in Bristol on Thursday.
Experts warned family business bosses to urgently think about who will take over when they retire or die and ensure they don't become a statistic in the list of failures.
Government research shows that although family firms make up a vital component of the UK economy and employ half of the UK workforce, only a third survive into a second generation and just a tenth make to the third.
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