New head of FBN sets out vision

Alexis du Roy de Blicquy, the newly appointed chief executive of the Family Business Network International, says he wants to work more closely with the individual country chapters of the FBN as he looks to consolidate the rapid growth of the Switzerland-based organisation.

Du Roy, who replaced Olivier de Richoufftz, said the group had grown rapidly in the last decade and become global – with membership now more than 6,500 from around 1,000 eight years ago. “What is needed now is a period of consolidation – we also need to work closer with the individual country organisations,” he told CampdenFB.

As part of these efforts Du Roy said he would be visiting most of the individual chapters of the FBN over the next year. “We are adding more countries as members, but it’s also important to get country members to work more closely among themselves. There is a need to align the visions of the members.”

He added that he wanted to evolve the group towards becoming an exclusive think-tank organisation from its conference/summit roots. Working with next generation members – those below the age of 40 that constitute 25% of the entire membership – was also a priority.

The 42-year-old Belgian said his background working with family businesses including the conglomerate Group Lhoist, investment company Verlinvest and the elderly care group Armonea had given him an intimate knowledge of the sector.

Even his wife is from a fifth-generation Swiss family business. Du Roy also spent eight years at the International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank, helping family businesses in emerging markets to access international capital markets.