DCU Launches Family Business Succession Report

Dublin City University's National Centre for Family Business has launched a new report on succession, putting the generational handover of family-owned firms squarely on the research agenda.

The centre, based at DCU, announced the publication this week. The report addresses how family businesses plan — or fail to plan — the transfer of ownership and management from one generation to the next.

Why does succession matter for family firms?

Succession is the make-or-break moment for most family-owned companies. The transition between generations decides whether a business survives its founder, stalls, or gets sold.

DCU's National Centre for Family Business exists to study exactly these questions. It researches the dynamics of family enterprises and works with business families on the practical challenges they face — governance, ownership transfer and leadership change among them.

The new report adds to that body of work. It consolidates the centre's thinking on succession and is intended as a resource for family firms navigating leadership change.

What does the launch signal?

The publication of a dedicated succession report signals where DCU sees the pressure points. Family businesses make up a large share of Ireland's enterprise base, and thousands of them face ownership transitions in the coming years.

Each handover carries consequences beyond the family itself. Jobs, supplier relationships and local economies ride on whether these firms pass successfully to the next generation or exit through sale or closure.

The centre's report is designed to give those families — and their advisers — a grounded starting point for the conversation.

What happens next?

Expect the report to feed into the centre's ongoing programmes with family firms, and to anchor future research on how Irish family companies actually execute their transitions.

The takeaway: DCU has put succession — the single decision that determines most family firms' survival — into print, and into the hands of the businesses that need it.