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Family businesses put women on top

By Rashmi Kumar

Family businesses in the UK have more women in senior positions than non-family businesses, according to a survey conducted for the Institute for Family Business.

Forty four percent of directors in family businesses are women, while in non-family businesses women account for 32% of the top positions, said the survey, carried out by University of Leeds and University of Nottingham for the IFB.

According to the report, women are offered top board positions to maintain equality within the family business and to ensure that a good succession plan is put in place.

Carrie Rubin, a director of the Pentland Group and chair of the IFB Women’s Forum, said: “I believe the opportunities for career progress are greater for women in family businesses. The ethos of family firms often means that there is a greater appreciation of the talents and abilities of the workforce irrespective of gender.”

The London-based IFB’s survey of over one million UK private businesses comes on the wake of the government’s recent Davies report, which recommends that by 2015, 25% of a company’s board should consist of women.

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